http://www.thenation.com/blogs/ Unconventional Wisdom Since 1865 en-us Copyright 2009 The Nation Company LP Tue, 13 May 2003 19:00:00 EDT News/Politics/Progressive_and_Left/ CoMa/Deasil Systems Collection 40 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/sFnrAs-uF8c/the_stupak_stupor http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494751/the_stupak_stupor <p> <p> We know that the House healthcare reform bill passed after an eleventh-hour compromise (you might say betrayal) on abortion access. We know the compromise, the Stupak-Pitts amendment, is bad. But do we know exactly how it's bad for women (and their partners)? Here's a quick primer on what the amendment actually means for any woman accessing healthcare through the newly-created health insurance exchange. </p> </p> <p> <p> Over the summer, legislators struck an agreement on abortion funding in which private plans offered through the health insurance exchange couldn't use federal dollars to cover abortion care. They could, however, cover abortion care with funds from individuals' premiums, and the agreement, the Capps Amendment, required at least one plan in every region to offer abortion care, and at least one not to. As many observers predicted, the Capps Amendment didn't mollify anti-abortion crusaders, namely the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which <a href="http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/11/08/this-is-only-first-salvo-in-bishops-campaign-against-womens-health">commands an outsize role in the debate over healthcare reform</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> So what we ended up with was drastically worse. After the initial compromise fell apart, Rep. Bart Stupak introduced the eponymous amendment, under which any plan purchased with any federal subsidy cannot cover abortion services--even with private funds. Plus, the public plan won't cover abortion care. While plans participating in the health insurance exchange are legally permitted to offer a version of the plan that does cover abortion--enrollment limited to those who pay for the entire plan without any subsidy--it's unlikely plans will go the extra mile to offer that coverage, Planned Parenthood's Laurie Rubiner said this morning on the <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2009/11/09/segments/144080">Brian Lehrer Show</a>. That would be "awfully complex," Rubiner explained. Because the majority of Americans purchasing insurance through the exchange would be using affordability credits, the plan without abortion coverage will become the "standard plan." Rubiner also cited privacy concerns over purchasing abortion-inclusive coverage. The <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125772887262937473.html">Wall Street Journal observed</a>, "Insurers may be reluctant to [set up abortion-inclusive plans] because it could complicate how they pool risk and force them to label policies in a way that could draw attention from abortion opponents." </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494751/the_stupak_stupor">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UaJGuXUvMXC9QBLNzRD7fQjCOW4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UaJGuXUvMXC9QBLNzRD7fQjCOW4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UaJGuXUvMXC9QBLNzRD7fQjCOW4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UaJGuXUvMXC9QBLNzRD7fQjCOW4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/sFnrAs-uF8c" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-09T18:20:37-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=494751 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494751/the_stupak_stupor http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/JAu5HY5R4lE/the_just_say_no_democrats http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494514/the_just_say_no_democrats <p> The New York Times has an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/08/us/politics/1108-health-care-vote.html?ref=politics">excellent graphic</a> up today profiling the 39 Democrats who voted against healthcare reform in the House of Representatives on Saturday night. The Times notes that 31 of these Democrats represent districts won by John McCain, as if that's a sufficient excuse. But take a closer look at the numbers. Paradoxically, those Democrats voting against healthcare reform represent constituents most in need of health insurance. </p> <p> Dan Boren of Oklahoma, arguably the most conservative Democrat in Congress, leads the way. Twenty-nine percent of his non-elderly constituents lack health insurance. He's followed by Harry Teague of New Mexico (25 percent uninsured), Waco's Chet Edwards (23 percent), North Carolinians Mike McIntyre (23 percent) and Heath Shuler (21 percent), Blue Dog leader Mike Ross (22 percent) and fellow Southerners Gene Taylor (22 percent), Jim Marshall (22 percent) and John Barrow (21 percent). </p> <p> These Democrats will talk about fiscal responsibility and cost containment and preserving the free market, but let's get real--their votes had nothing to do with ideological concerns. After all, the legislation was severely <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/us/politics/22health.html">watered down</a> to please people like Mike Ross, who voted against the bill anyway. It was all politics, even though 22 of these Democrats won their districts by double-digits. Ross led the way, defeating his practically nonexistent GOP opponent by 72 points! He's hardly an endangered species. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494514/the_just_say_no_democrats">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IG4Ibs0mcZmoZxqDDnGTe-wM0DA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IG4Ibs0mcZmoZxqDDnGTe-wM0DA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IG4Ibs0mcZmoZxqDDnGTe-wM0DA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IG4Ibs0mcZmoZxqDDnGTe-wM0DA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/JAu5HY5R4lE" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-09T13:09:08-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=494514 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494514/the_just_say_no_democrats http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/LTpkjBsSuzI/video_michelle_obama_hits_sesame_st_republicans_slam_oscar http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494438/video_michelle_obama_hits_sesame_st_republicans_slam_oscar <p> Sesame Street hits the airwaves for its 40th season on Tuesday, with a guest appearance by First Lady and Gardener-in-Chief Michelle Obama. </p> <p> In the segment, Ms. Obama huddles with Elmo, Big Bird and several children to go over the fine points of seed-planting. Elmo loves cucumbers, it turns out. Ms. Obama has appeared on Sesame Street before, in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhGWSfraeyQ">"healthy habits"</a> segment with Elmo in May. </p> <p> There's no word yet on whether Obama critics while reprise their complaints about exposing children to the First Family -- The President's speech to students drew plenty of mock outrage -- but some conservatives were recently <a href="http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/11/03/l-is-for-leftist-thats-good-enough-for-me/">slamming</a> Sesame Street for a scene where Oscar The Grouch (arguably) spoofs Fox News. Both videos are below.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494438/video_michelle_obama_hits_sesame_st_republicans_slam_oscar">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wSoWip-F1juxQsVqfL1D8PbXYZo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wSoWip-F1juxQsVqfL1D8PbXYZo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wSoWip-F1juxQsVqfL1D8PbXYZo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wSoWip-F1juxQsVqfL1D8PbXYZo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/LTpkjBsSuzI" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-09T11:13:25-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=494438 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494438/video_michelle_obama_hits_sesame_st_republicans_slam_oscar http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/RfkVzAY6WTk/the_wall_comes_down http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/494425/the_wall_comes_down <p> The Moment the Barriers Came Down. </p> <p> <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iLS17dCidEI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iLS17dCidEI&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/494425/the_wall_comes_down">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Cv-r9vn67cW1vs5VLFKTcB_-A_E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Cv-r9vn67cW1vs5VLFKTcB_-A_E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Cv-r9vn67cW1vs5VLFKTcB_-A_E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Cv-r9vn67cW1vs5VLFKTcB_-A_E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/RfkVzAY6WTk" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-09T10:44:54-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=494425 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/494425/the_wall_comes_down http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/RMfm2dO8G2Q/six_smart_progressive_complaints_about_house_health_bill http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/494236/six_smart_progressive_complaints_about_house_health_bill <p> The Affordable Health Care for America Act was approved by the U.S. House Saturday night with overwhelming support from progressive Democrats who serve in the chamber and from a president who was nominated and elected with the enthusiastic support of progressive voters. </p> <p> But that does not mean that informed and engaged progressives are entirely enthusiastic about the measure. </p> <p> In fact, some are openly and explicitly opposed to it -- among them former Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and CPC member Eric Massa, D-New York, both of whom broke with the majority of their fellow Democrats to vote "no" when the House approved the measure by a narrow 220-215 vote Saturday.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/494236/six_smart_progressive_complaints_about_house_health_bill">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4ygeuhG2kva4FJ_2lx3NFcAJqX4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4ygeuhG2kva4FJ_2lx3NFcAJqX4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4ygeuhG2kva4FJ_2lx3NFcAJqX4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4ygeuhG2kva4FJ_2lx3NFcAJqX4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/RMfm2dO8G2Q" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-09T10:23:22-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=494236 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/494236/six_smart_progressive_complaints_about_house_health_bill http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/LWdA28ufsaA/the_deal_with_iran http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/494364/the_deal_with_iran <p> President Obama's meeting today with Israel's prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu, won't be focused exclusively on Israel's stubborn refusal to move forward on a deal with the Palestinians. Also on the table will be the issue of Iran. And the president ought to tell the prime minister: "We're handling this, so sit down and shut up." The last thing Obama needs is more Israeli bluster about taking out Iran's nukes militarily at such a sensitive moment in the talks. Why? Because Israeli bombast makes it a lot harder for Iranian leaders to follow through on a deal that is controversial within Iranian politics, since the Israeli bombast makes it look like they are capitulating to the "Zionist entity" if they accept the deal. </p> <p> The deal, you'll remember, reached Oct. 1, would provide for Iran to ship most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for reprocessing for a medical-use reactor. As the deal became a political soccer ball in Iran, Tehran stalled -- and new proposals surfaced. One, reportedly by Iran, would have Iran maintain control of the fuel under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on its own terrritory, but that's a nonstarter. Another, brokered by IAEA, would allow Iran to ship its uranium to neighboring Turkey, while Russia would substitute reprocessed fuel of its own. </p> <p> In spite of alarmist reports about Iran's foot-dragging on the nuclear talks, the Obama administration seems to be handling the talks professionally and intelligently. Glyn Davies, the US representative to the IAEA <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE5A81TW20091109?sp=true">told Reuters</a>:</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/494364/the_deal_with_iran">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mBB5Epg8DVEWaWU_0KEbBNT7Big/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mBB5Epg8DVEWaWU_0KEbBNT7Big/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mBB5Epg8DVEWaWU_0KEbBNT7Big/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mBB5Epg8DVEWaWU_0KEbBNT7Big/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/LWdA28ufsaA" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-09T08:32:27-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=494364 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/494364/the_deal_with_iran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/lsTDnDnQHls/house_passes_health_reform_but_without_reproductive_rights http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493913/house_passes_health_reform_but_without_reproductive_rights <p> The U.S. House of Representatives answered "the call of history" put to it by President Obama Saturday and voted 220-215 in favor of the most sweeping expansion of health-care coverage since the enactment of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_%28United_States%29">Medicare and Medicaid Act of 1965.</a> </p> <p> House Democrats burst into sustained applause at 11:08 EST as the majority-making 218th vote was cast in favor of the the Affordable Health Care for America Act. </p> <p> The measure ultimately received <a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml">the votes of 219 Democrats.</a></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493913/house_passes_health_reform_but_without_reproductive_rights">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1475n8xGzeKbETo1eeOMjbsjNeU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1475n8xGzeKbETo1eeOMjbsjNeU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1475n8xGzeKbETo1eeOMjbsjNeU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1475n8xGzeKbETo1eeOMjbsjNeU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/lsTDnDnQHls" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-08T09:11:36-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=493913 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493913/house_passes_health_reform_but_without_reproductive_rights http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/-U-zTM8HP8s/around_i_the_nation_i http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/493853/around_i_the_nation_i <p> <p> One year on since President Obama was elected and as our John Nichols <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493371/%0Ddouble_digit_unemployment_is_obama_s_no_1_challenge">notes</a>, the fate of his presidency could come down to one word: Jobs. But for progressives, figuring out how to feel about the Obama presidency is daunting. Do we play the betrayal sweepstakes--or soldier on in a more sustained campaign for progressive change that seizes the opportunities of the moment? In 'The Nation''s print magazine this week I offered my thoughts on "Obama, One Year On"--you can read them <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123/kvh">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> Also this week was our <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123">special issue</a> on youth and youth politics. A big thank you to Editorial Board member and Wiretapmag.org Editor Kristina Rizga, who guest-edited. For a good overview of the main topic--where Obama's young supporters have gone, one year later--watch this <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123/video_youthissue">VideoNation interview</a> with Kristina and reporter Elizabeth Mendez Berry. We also revealed the winners of the annual Nation Student Journalism Contest. Our winner was Jim Miller, from Henderson State University in Arkansas. Read his fantastic winning entry on small-town America <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/question/487577/2009_nation_student_writing_contest_winners">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> Another video feature is launching this weekend at TheNation.com--an 8-week series of interviews with journalists and media insiders on the future of journalism. What will the media look like in 5 years ... 10 ... 15? Can investigative journalism survive? 'The Nation''s John Nichols leads off, followed by Nick Penniman (Huffington Post Investigative Fund), Ana Marie Cox (Air America and MSNBC), Dan Rather, Jane Mayer, Mark Luckie (10000words.net) and Victor Navasky. You can view John's video <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123/nichols_video">here</a>. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/493853/around_i_the_nation_i">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mepw7bpOx__u-vitAQjgqaRhoFY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mepw7bpOx__u-vitAQjgqaRhoFY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mepw7bpOx__u-vitAQjgqaRhoFY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mepw7bpOx__u-vitAQjgqaRhoFY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/-U-zTM8HP8s" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-07T14:11:36-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=493853 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/493853/around_i_the_nation_i http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/qmGrbrehjwk/injustice_in_illinois http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493468/injustice_in_illinois <p> There's a very important <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123/editors">editorial</a> in The Nation this week that I hope everyone will take the time to read. It's about the wrongful conviction of Anthony McKinney, who's been in prison for thirty-one years for a murder he did not commit. I'm posting the relevant portions below. </p> <p> <blockquote>On the evening of September 15, 1978, a white security guard named Donald Lundahl was murdered in a robbery gone awry in a racially fraught southern suburb of Chicago. Police fingered Anthony McKinney, an 18-year-old African-American with no criminal record, as the killer. The prosecution sought death by lethal injection; the judge sentenced McKinney to life in prison. </p> <p> McKinney has long maintained his innocence. Based on newly uncovered evidence, there's strong reason to believe that he has spent thirty-one years in prison for a crime he did not commit.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493468/injustice_in_illinois">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Qv36eg9Cn99UPhjSKQk55eSN0Fo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Qv36eg9Cn99UPhjSKQk55eSN0Fo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Qv36eg9Cn99UPhjSKQk55eSN0Fo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Qv36eg9Cn99UPhjSKQk55eSN0Fo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/qmGrbrehjwk" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-06T13:33:40-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=493468 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493468/injustice_in_illinois http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_UGuj9kWbrI/ft_hood_drowns_out_the_tea_party http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493400/ft_hood_drowns_out_the_tea_party <p> Don't bring your pitchforks. This is to be our "last stand" to stop health care reform, it's Alamo time. Don't let your congressmen call it a "rally" or "protest"--make sure they say "press event" or "press conference." The point is to see "the whites of their eyes," because there's nothing a congressman fears more than a "freedom-loving American." Oh, and <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/michelle-bachmann-tea-partiers-prepare-for-last-stand-on-health-care.php">don't dress "too nicely</a>." We don't want the press to start calling this another "Brooks Brothers riot" like they did when Bush aides stormed Miami hallways to stop the 2000 recount. </p> <p> You can feel the tension between the urge to bully and the need to seem "normal" in every hectic contradiction sent out over the past couple days by Rep. Michelle Bachmann and the Republican Study Committee to the thousands of Tea Partiers who gathered to protest at the Capitol on Thursday. And you have to sympathize. Truly, it isn't easy to be inoffensively radical, or respectably revolutionary, or even pleasantly insane. </p> <p> Brought in on buses chartered by the corporate <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/category/raa/">astroturf group Americans For Prosperity</a>, they were the now de rigeur crew of white folks of a certain age, carrying signs emblazoned with Holocaust corpse pits and Obama as the Joker. Most wound up snarled before the metal detectors at the entrances to House and Senate office buildings across the street from the Capitol, trying to get inside to "scare" their congresspeople but instead spilling into the traffic outside. A handful of <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/no-tea-partiers-were-harmed-in-the-protesting-of-this-health-care-bill.php">anti-abortion protesters</a> were arrested at Nancy Pelosi's office in the Canon House Office Building (Pelosi wasn't there; she spent most of her day in the Capitol itself, where access is strictly limited).</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493400/ft_hood_drowns_out_the_tea_party">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ijg7HXOfCINq-7CwAl4IOBHxDpo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ijg7HXOfCINq-7CwAl4IOBHxDpo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ijg7HXOfCINq-7CwAl4IOBHxDpo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ijg7HXOfCINq-7CwAl4IOBHxDpo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_UGuj9kWbrI" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-06T12:04:37-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=493400 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493400/ft_hood_drowns_out_the_tea_party http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/VIc_BuCbdm8/double_digit_unemployment_is_obama_s_no_1_challenge http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493371/double_digit_unemployment_is_obama_s_no_1_challenge <p> For the first time in more than a quarter century, unemployment in the United States has reached double digits. </p> <p> That's bad economic news for America, which has now been shedding jobs for 22 consecutive months. </p> <p> That's bad social news for the Americans who are out of work, for their families and for their communities, especially when we consider data that tells us 35 percent of jobless men and women have been looking for work for more than six months.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493371/double_digit_unemployment_is_obama_s_no_1_challenge">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VtBD2r5VWsM7ePl6mXal0ociXzU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VtBD2r5VWsM7ePl6mXal0ociXzU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VtBD2r5VWsM7ePl6mXal0ociXzU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VtBD2r5VWsM7ePl6mXal0ociXzU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/VIc_BuCbdm8" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-06T10:28:25-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=493371 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493371/double_digit_unemployment_is_obama_s_no_1_challenge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/7068gOvcKT4/obama_fails_in_middle_east http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/493335/obama_fails_in_middle_east <p> The announcement by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he will not run for reelection is the exclamation point on the utter collapse of the Obama adminstration's Middle East policy. Launched to great expectations -- the appointment of George Mitchell, Obama's Cairo declaration that the plight of the Palestinians is intolerable -- it is now in complete disarray. It is, without doubt, the first major defeat for Obama's hope-and-change foreign policy. </p> <p> Here's how it unraveled. First, Obama began a test of strength with Israel over that country's policy of illegal settlements, an expansion of its occupation of the West Bank driven by extremist, right-wing settlers who are fanatical, Bible-believing cultists who think that Israel has some God-given right to that territory. The settler-kooks -- indeed, one of their past leaders was named Rabbi Kook -- are supported by ultra-hardliners in Israel's security establishment, who see the West Bank as strategic depth in Israel's defense posture. What happened after Obama told Israel it had to stop settlements? Nothing. Score: Netanyahu 1, Obama 0. </p> <p> Next, the Obama adminstration capitulated, refusing to insist on any penalty for Israel's defiant intransigence. Not even a hint of any retaliation by the United States to enforce what it had called the path to a peace deal. No talk of reducing US aid to Israel, or cutting back on US-Israeli military cooperation, or anything. Score: Netanyahu 2, Obama 0.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/493335/obama_fails_in_middle_east">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0YGDx6ijwupP2Bh2tgdp4NK7UHo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0YGDx6ijwupP2Bh2tgdp4NK7UHo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0YGDx6ijwupP2Bh2tgdp4NK7UHo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0YGDx6ijwupP2Bh2tgdp4NK7UHo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/7068gOvcKT4" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-06T08:56:07-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=493335 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/493335/obama_fails_in_middle_east http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/TzjlljeWq0M/horror_at_fort_hood_inspires_horribly_predictable_islamophobia http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493148/horror_at_fort_hood_inspires_horribly_predictable_islamophobia <p> Last Thursday's shooting spree at the Fort Hood army base in Texas -- which left 13 people dead and 29 wounded -- was of course the "horrific outburst of violence" that President Obama bemoaned and condemned. </p> <p> But, because the soldier who was quickly identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable explosion of <a href="http://www.cair.com/Issues/Islamophobia/Islamophobia.aspx">Islamophobia.</a> </p> <p> News reports named the man who used two handguns in the assault on his fellow soldiers at a base that is a prime point of departure for troops headed to Iraq and Afghanistan as Major Malik Nidal Hasan. The major, who was wounded during the incident, was identified as a psychiatrist who had served in the Department of Psychology at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Bethesda Naval Facility in Bethesda, Maryland, before his transfer to Fort Hood. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493148/horror_at_fort_hood_inspires_horribly_predictable_islamophobia">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zzMyIKSnd96VNfCMVv25L1ykVXI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zzMyIKSnd96VNfCMVv25L1ykVXI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zzMyIKSnd96VNfCMVv25L1ykVXI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zzMyIKSnd96VNfCMVv25L1ykVXI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/TzjlljeWq0M" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-05T19:23:12-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=493148 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/493148/horror_at_fort_hood_inspires_horribly_predictable_islamophobia http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_5y3doFhNME/equality_across_america http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/493039/equality_across_america <p> 'This post was written by Nation intern and freelance writer Daniel Chandler.' </p> <p> Over the weekend of October 10/11, more than 200,000 people took part in the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091026/chandler">National Equality March in Washington</a>, and thousands participated in strategy and activist events, in a bold attempt to kick-start a movement for full civil equality for LGBT people in all 50 states. </p> <p> As the march's organizers, a coalition of activists called <a href="http://equalityacrossamerica.org/">Equality Across America</a>, kept reminding marchers, the weekend was just the beginning of a movement that they hope will <a href="http://equalityacrossamerica.org/about">transform the strategy</a> for securing LGBT rights, shifting the focus to the federal level, and refusing to accept ‘fractions of equality'. They called on the crowds assembled in front of the Capitol to go home and create Congressional District Action Teams (CDATs) in all 435 districts.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/493039/equality_across_america">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aoKrnOLHefwp5ABQJglvmu0uERI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aoKrnOLHefwp5ABQJglvmu0uERI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aoKrnOLHefwp5ABQJglvmu0uERI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aoKrnOLHefwp5ABQJglvmu0uERI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_5y3doFhNME" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-05T14:48:40-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=493039 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/493039/equality_across_america http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/z0siy3DU-xM/election_2009_what_really_changed http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493014/election_2009_what_really_changed <p> So the tide turned Tuesday on Democrats, liberals, Obama, the left. Republicans are "energized," 'The New York Times' reports today, their elation marred only by the prospect of an inter-party feud that could cost them winnable races in 2010. </p> <p> So the conventional wisdom asserts. Intelligent conservatives know better. One of them is Andrew Pavelyev, who, over at David Frum's blog, <a href="http://www.frumforum.com/hold-off-on-the-celebrations">parsed</a> the results of Tuesday's election in a strangely overlooked state: North Carolina. </p> <p> As everyone knows, Barack Obama narrowly won North Carolina a year ago. As most people agree, Republicans must win it back to defeat him in 2012. So what happened on Tuesday? As Pevelyev observed, Republican Bill Knight won the mayoral race in Greensboro, defeating the incumbent Democrat. "Unfortunately," he went on to note, "Greensboro will now be the only North Carolina city with a population over 100,000 that has a Republican mayor. After an unbroken 22yearstring of Republican mayors, Charlotte yesterday elected a Democrat, Anthony Foxx. The Democrats also won 8 out of 11 seats on the city council."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493014/election_2009_what_really_changed">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vbDX1BWfvGsJXj0liKHyzARzmgY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vbDX1BWfvGsJXj0liKHyzARzmgY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vbDX1BWfvGsJXj0liKHyzARzmgY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vbDX1BWfvGsJXj0liKHyzARzmgY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/z0siy3DU-xM" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-05T14:22:40-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=493014 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/493014/election_2009_what_really_changed http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Q4TyKpGNSgU/house_adopts_know_nothing_approach_to_middle_east http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492991/house_adopts_know_nothing_approach_to_middle_east <p> The Congress of the United States went out of its way this week to embarrass itself. </p> <p> At issue was a House resolution "calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the ‘Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' in multilateral fora." </p> <p> The point of the resolution was to tell the Obama administration in general, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in particular, to do everything in its power to prevent serious consideration of the Goldstone Report, a study of alleged violations of international human rights laws and humanitarian standards by the Israeli Defense Forces operating in Palestinian territory on the Gaza Strip.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492991/house_adopts_know_nothing_approach_to_middle_east">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DSHBdDP4Ni2aIyUv7hOGy9NjZGM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DSHBdDP4Ni2aIyUv7hOGy9NjZGM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DSHBdDP4Ni2aIyUv7hOGy9NjZGM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DSHBdDP4Ni2aIyUv7hOGy9NjZGM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Q4TyKpGNSgU" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-05T13:37:22-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=492991 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492991/house_adopts_know_nothing_approach_to_middle_east http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/cOM0mcdTJHc/slacker_thursday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/492938/slacker_thursday <p> <p> I've got a new "<a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/11/ta110509.html">Think Again</a>" column called "This Fish Rots from the Head Down" and it's about what a crappy, dishonest columnist George Will is, and it's here. </p>  <p> (Funnily, I am staying at the Doubletree in Ontario, CA, wehre I am debating young Ross Douthat at Pomona College tonight, and its computers will not allow me to access that piece or any piece on the CAP website. The warning reads: "The access to the address above is restricted. Accordingly to our harmful content database SiteCoach does not allow you to visit this page!" Sheesh.</p> <p> My 'Nation' column this week is an examination of the issues raised by a young right-wing journalist's awful book about the elite media's alleged persecution of Sarah Palin and it's called "<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123/alterman">Sarah, Smile</a>!" (I know, I know, keep my day job...)</p> <p> While Pedro was letting all the honest, hardworking people of the world down last night, I was typing away at this meshugena hotel computer so that the world might enjoy my election wrap-up from the Daily Beast, and that's <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-05/why-democrats-are-smiling/">here</a>. <p>Did I mention that my ThinkPad died in between Dallas and Ontario? It's the fourth time that thing has had to be repaired, and of course I am stuck out here with a long flight home no laptop. It's enough to make one consider switching to a Mac, finally. Anway, fortunately Pierce is early, so we have an excuse to post this. Oh, ok, one more thing. Did you happen to notice how Bruce ended his night of the RRHOF (at 1:30am) with an amazing "Higher and Higher" featuring everybody who wanted to perform: Sam More, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Tom Morello, etc, while Bono/U2 felt a need to kick everybody off the stage (Mick, Bruce, Patti, etc) so they could close the show alone? Just saying... See you this weekend. Wild and Innocent, Saturday. The River, Sundy. First time ever for both. Here's Pierce.   <p>CHARLES PIERCE</p> <p>NEWTON, MA.</p> </p> <p> <p>Hey Doc --</p> <p>"Well, I hitched a ride from the borderland/when the home guard went insane/No use trying to work with people/who can't tell fire from rain."</p> <p>Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "Nevada" (Gil Evans) -- It's never too close to call how much I love New Orleans.</p> <p>Short Takes:</p> <p><b>Part The First</b>: Parson Meacham, that pious fraud, <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/newsweek_and_oil_lobby_team_up_to_host_climate_cha.php?ref=fpb">can continue to BITE ME</a>. And, of course, in conjunction with Sister Sally Punchboard, he also presented a reading from the <a href="http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/charles_colson/2009/10/being_good_and_doing_good.html">Book Of THUGS</a>.</p> </p> <p> <p><b>Part The Second</b>: The redoubtable Howler remains invaluable. <a href="http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh110409.shtml">THIS</a> is why. How you settle on a know-nothing pink balloon like Marsha Blackburn as a credible spokesperson for "the other side" on this issue--other that the very real possibility that she might've been the only one the reporter could get on the phone-- is too deep for my small mind to ponder.<p> <p><b>Part The Third</b>: Very weird <a href="http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-case-against-awards?page=0,0">COLUMN</a>. Note to Jon--the reason that ETL <b>New Republic</b> hasn't won a National Magazine Award recently is assuredly not because it once won one for Betsy McCaughey's bullshit. The reason Marisa Tomei has not won an Oscar recently is not  because she won one once for <b>My Cousin Vinny</b>. (And Betsy's was the worst  article in the history of a magazine that once employed Stephen Glass, and that continues to publish the fudge-brained ramblings of <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blogs/the-spine">The Singer MIDGET</a>?  Look a bit deeper, my lad. And the NMA's aren't until next spring, for pity's sake. Someone needs a hug.</p> <p><b>Part The Fourth</b>: I care less about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/opinion/03brooks.html?_r=2&amp;hp">David Brooks's dating advice</a> than I do about a goat's taste in opera.</p> <p><b>Part The Fifth</b>: My favorite <a href="http://www.dogcanyon.org/2009/11/01/can-disneys-davy-crockett-save-america/">POST</a> yet from my favorite new honky-tonk here along the docks of Blogistan.</p> <p> <b>Part The Penultimate</b>: Thanks to Marcy for blogging up this <a href="http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/11/04/patriots-and-state-secrets-live-blog/">TRANSCRIPT</a>. I was particularly struck by this analysis from Rep. Lamar Smith, one of the true brainiacs in the Texas delegation: "All Al Qaeda needs to do now is open a bookstore." I guess they're right. We are going to have to tighten up our Borders. Hey-yo! No, thank you. Really. I'll be here all week.</p> <p><b>Part The Ultimate</b>: Of all the shoddy reactions to last Tuesday's orgy of marginal significance, <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/11/cornyn-we-will-not-spend-money-in-a-contested-primary.html">this may be the most IMPORTANT</a>. If you're keeping score at home, the national Republican party just sent a message to the nutters that, any time they can muster up a candidate from the <a href="http://media.syracuse.com/politicalnotebook/photo/doug-hoffmanjpg-64d8e0580e1ba5b9_large.jpg">Island Of Misfit TOYS</a>, the party will take a pass on the race. Now, if you think Cornyn's a little smarter than I think he is --and I think he's pretty much a blockhead--you could argue that he's giving The Base just enough rope to hang itself.  (The establishment candidates who get crisped as collateral damage--Hi there, Charlie Crist!--are just SOL, I guess.) However, if you are burdened with common sense, it's plain that the national GOP is scared right down to the tassels on its loafers by what's going on in the hinterlands, its trembling exacerbated this week when Congresswoman Batshit J. Crazee called for direct <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29101.html">ACTION</a>. They may learn to channel all this by 2012; the redoubtable <a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/sorry-charlie-by-digby-it-would-appear.html">Digby OPINES</a> that the whole business is just the same old plutocratic weasels sub-contracting the job of rebuilding their movement. That may be, but, for now, and for whatever reason, one of the country's two major political parties has surrendered itself utterly to the monkeyhouse. While undoubtedly entertaining, this is in no way a good thing.</p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/492938/slacker_thursday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AGzSbzjEDj6YOuAibZHuX36pV80/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AGzSbzjEDj6YOuAibZHuX36pV80/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AGzSbzjEDj6YOuAibZHuX36pV80/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AGzSbzjEDj6YOuAibZHuX36pV80/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/cOM0mcdTJHc" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-11-05T12:38:30-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=492938 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/492938/slacker_thursday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/2XHmS6d4xjo/patience_with_iran http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/492884/patience_with_iran <p> The Green Movement opposition flexed its muscles again in Iran this week, taking advantage of anti-American protests on the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran (aka "the nest of spies") to rally thousands of anti-Ahmadinejad protestors into the streets. </p> <p> Unfortunately, the Green resurgence in Iran is causing some Iran watchers to fall into the same old trap: threatening to halt US-Iran negotiations in favor of support for democracy, or some semblance of it, in Iran. The latest to make this mistake is Ray Takeyh, a former adviser to the Obama-era State Department, whose <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/04/AR2009110403873.html">op-ed in today's 'Washington Post'</a> essentially suggests that America should cut off its negotiating nose to spite its pro-democracy face. He writes: </p> <p> <blockquote>"Iran's hard-liners need to know that should they launch their much-advertised crackdown, the price for such conduct may be termination of any dialogue with the West."</blockquote></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/492884/patience_with_iran">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rNhGsSW3PgD0uvtyNGFD-Qxy0Ic/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rNhGsSW3PgD0uvtyNGFD-Qxy0Ic/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rNhGsSW3PgD0uvtyNGFD-Qxy0Ic/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rNhGsSW3PgD0uvtyNGFD-Qxy0Ic/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/2XHmS6d4xjo" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-05T11:04:03-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=492884 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/492884/patience_with_iran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/UCC5i05Mpe8/a_year_later_obama_needs_to_start_campaigning_again http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492274/a_year_later_obama_needs_to_start_campaigning_again <p> MADISON, WI --One year ago Tuesday, Barack Obama redefined American electioneering to such an extent that it was possible to believe that the success of his transformational campaign would lead to a transformational presidency. </p> <p> After all, he had already changed most of what America "knew" about politics. </p> <p> The freshman senator from Illinois had not only won an election for the presidency of the United States on November 4, 2008.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492274/a_year_later_obama_needs_to_start_campaigning_again">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/doqjP19bq8sKSxNodLLTf-n1Nao/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/doqjP19bq8sKSxNodLLTf-n1Nao/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/doqjP19bq8sKSxNodLLTf-n1Nao/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/doqjP19bq8sKSxNodLLTf-n1Nao/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/UCC5i05Mpe8" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-04T16:37:48-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=492274 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492274/a_year_later_obama_needs_to_start_campaigning_again http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/KBvZoE-HC50/marriage_in_maine_losing_forward http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/492360/marriage_in_maine_losing_forward <p> <p> Last night, in a voter referendum, Mainers narrowly, nail-bitingly voted to repeal the law extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, with the <a href="http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/128048.html">Bangor Daily News</a> now reporting a margin of 53 to 47 percent. </p> </p> <p> <p> It wasn't only bad news for LGBT rights on election night--voters in Kalamazoo, Michigan, approved an anti-discrimination ordinance adding sexual orientation and gender identity to existing civil rights law in their city, and Washington state's referendum to approve everything-but-the-M-word protections for same-sex couples <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010196421_elexref7104m.html">is winning</a>, though the race hasn't been called yet. </p> </p> <p> <p> Still, on a morning after like this, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's the elite institutions in American life--courts and state legislatures (although, are you noticing, the sphere of what's "elite" keeps expanding?)--that are ready to contemplate marriage for gay people, and that Americans themselves (Liz Lemon's insistence that no Americans are any more real than any others notwithstanding) aren't. The State Supreme Court extends marriage rights to same-sex couples in California. Californians use a ballot initiative to take the right away. Maine's state legislature passes marriage equality legislation, and voters take the right away. In some jurisdictions (namely, Maine and California), public policy may be slightly outstripping public opinion. But the New York Times <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/does-policy-trail-public-opinion-on-gay-rights/">has recently taken a close look</a> at whether public opinion on gay rights issues leads or lags behind public policy in all 50 states, sparked by a paper in the <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&amp;aid=6101660">American Political Science Review</a> (via <a href="http://hunterforjustice.typepad.com/hunter_of_justice/2009/10/state-equality-laws-lag-behind-popular-opinion.html">Nan Hunter's indispensable blog</a>). Only in Iowa does partnership recognition (in that state's case, marriage) outstrip public support. (In fact, illustrating the vagaries in polling and voting, in this survey, just over half of Mainers support the right to marry.) But the study does not stop at examining attitudes on marriage. Over 50 percent of residents in almost every state (Oklahoma and Utah being the two exceptions) support health benefits for same-sex partners, and yet only 14 states offer this protection. A few more states have enacted workplace and housing discrimination protections, but again, virtually all states see a majority supporting this protection. In fact, average Americans want gay people to have protections--not necessarily marriage, yet, but we're getting there. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/492360/marriage_in_maine_losing_forward">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-yfcpm8NWg65_ksCueQ8y_PRLDk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-yfcpm8NWg65_ksCueQ8y_PRLDk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-yfcpm8NWg65_ksCueQ8y_PRLDk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-yfcpm8NWg65_ksCueQ8y_PRLDk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/KBvZoE-HC50" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-04T09:50:10-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=492360 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/492360/marriage_in_maine_losing_forward http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/vh_-wHtukho/looking_past_karzai http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/492312/looking_past_karzai <p> Is the White House thinking about getting out of Afghanistan? </p> <p> Just as Hamlet's mother and his murderous uncle rushed to marry with unseemly haste, even before his slain father's body was cold, the United States is hastily pretending that the Afghan election is over and done with. It was, President Obama admits, "messy." Now it's time to look ahead, and to deal with the reelected President Karzai, warts and all, they say. </p> <p> But the United States, and the world community, is going to have to look past Karzai. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/492312/looking_past_karzai">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fGgNK2Fica5p42TkBgjpyUmffd4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fGgNK2Fica5p42TkBgjpyUmffd4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fGgNK2Fica5p42TkBgjpyUmffd4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fGgNK2Fica5p42TkBgjpyUmffd4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/vh_-wHtukho" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-04T08:33:36-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=492312 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/492312/looking_past_karzai http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/OT_6739om2g/house_wins_offset_gubernatorial_losses_for_obama_dems http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/491759/house_wins_offset_gubernatorial_losses_for_obama_dems <p> White House aides announced Tuesday night that President Obama was not watching off-year election results on television. </p> <p> Actually, the president should have been watching. </p> <p> Indeed, he should have stayed up late.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/491759/house_wins_offset_gubernatorial_losses_for_obama_dems">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7kYGX47ARnWUr9fxzhY01DfyqM4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7kYGX47ARnWUr9fxzhY01DfyqM4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7kYGX47ARnWUr9fxzhY01DfyqM4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7kYGX47ARnWUr9fxzhY01DfyqM4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/OT_6739om2g" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-04T00:14:23-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=491759 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/491759/house_wins_offset_gubernatorial_losses_for_obama_dems http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/4hLezEguIug/bloomberg_wins_but_barely http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492141/bloomberg_wins_but_barely <p> Yes, of course, everyone was watching Virginia, New Jersey and upstate New York on Tuesday's off-year election night. </p> <p> But one of the most dramatic stories played out in New York City, where Mayor Mike Bloomberg forced a rewrite of the city's term-limit law so that he could seek a third term. </p> <p> Bloomberg left a Republican Party tha had turned exceedingly unpopular in the nation's largest city, spent an estimated $100 million of his own money and collected endorsements from the major daily newspapers and more than a few Democratic elected officials.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492141/bloomberg_wins_but_barely">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGEApKYKJBNezoQLQAFQ_UwX-_4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGEApKYKJBNezoQLQAFQ_UwX-_4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGEApKYKJBNezoQLQAFQ_UwX-_4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vGEApKYKJBNezoQLQAFQ_UwX-_4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/4hLezEguIug" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-03T21:29:23-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=492141 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492141/bloomberg_wins_but_barely http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/VOvpqmy-gDU/four_off_year_election_scenarios http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492162/four_off_year_election_scenarios <p> Yes, yes, we've all heard the "all-politics-is-local" bromide with regard to off-year elections. </p> <p> While it is no longer an operative, let alone true, statement – as the nationalized election cycles of the Bush years so clearly confirmed -- there is one certainty with regard to the pop punditry of <a href=" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_O'Neill">former House Speaker Tip O'Neill:</a> Winning players and parties never use it, while losers invariably rely on it. </p> <p> O'Neill, himself, never took the local line all that seriously when Democrats were doing well. Famously, he hailed the off-year election results of 1981 (Democrats won the Virginia governorship and lots of mayoralties) as a signal that his party was coming back from the battering it had taken a year earlier at the hands of Ronald Reagan's Republicans.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492162/four_off_year_election_scenarios">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eVOGZ4EIqW3tIZY3bTZ8VfqUJac/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eVOGZ4EIqW3tIZY3bTZ8VfqUJac/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eVOGZ4EIqW3tIZY3bTZ8VfqUJac/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eVOGZ4EIqW3tIZY3bTZ8VfqUJac/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/VOvpqmy-gDU" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-03T08:51:20-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=492162 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/492162/four_off_year_election_scenarios http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/EDuD3i59Mh8/tale_of_two_special_elections_one_shifts_right_the_other_left http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/491381/tale_of_two_special_elections_one_shifts_right_the_other_left <p> The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com">Washington Post</a> positions itself as a "must-read" daily almanac of the political class – a reliable source of information and insight regarding all things electoral. </p> <p> That goes double for congressional elections, since the Post is the "hometown paper" of the federal government's company town. </p> <p> As such, the Post can be expected to follow congressional contests with a rigor and clarity that exceeds that of talk-radio and talk-TV, right? Wrong.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/491381/tale_of_two_special_elections_one_shifts_right_the_other_left">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xmjT2iF9TzPqUtBvIcQPWI73zu8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xmjT2iF9TzPqUtBvIcQPWI73zu8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xmjT2iF9TzPqUtBvIcQPWI73zu8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xmjT2iF9TzPqUtBvIcQPWI73zu8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/EDuD3i59Mh8" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-02T18:40:57-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=491381 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/491381/tale_of_two_special_elections_one_shifts_right_the_other_left http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/D6_rtlDDj1o/can_we_get_some_small_d_democracy http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/491332/can_we_get_some_small_d_democracy <p> <p> I have long advocated for a <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061120/kvh">strong pro-democracy agenda</a> to repair and strengthen our <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/274167">broken electoral system</a>. The needs are many--from creating an Election Day holiday, to requiring <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/307798">voting machines</a> that produce a voter-verified paper trail, to re-enfranchising former felons who have served their sentences, to <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/233515">public campaign financing</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> Just this past week, when my 18 year old daughter was back from college for fall break and told me it was too complicated to go register this Tuesday, I realized why we need another important reform I've written about for these last few years--same day voter registration. </p> </p> <p> <p> Last week, the Same Day Registration Act was introduced by Senator Russ Feingold (S.1986) and Congressman Keith Ellison (H.R. 3957) requiring states to provide for same day registration (SDR). With SDR, a citizen who misses a voter registration deadline can register at the polls on Election Day or the period leading up to it, and then cast a valid ballot. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/491332/can_we_get_some_small_d_democracy">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f3EhAQ8Q_c42mR9mvoYsPB013O4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f3EhAQ8Q_c42mR9mvoYsPB013O4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f3EhAQ8Q_c42mR9mvoYsPB013O4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f3EhAQ8Q_c42mR9mvoYsPB013O4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/D6_rtlDDj1o" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-02T12:54:17-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=491332 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/491332/can_we_get_some_small_d_democracy http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/FgdakraXo0w/the_most_terrifying_video_you_ll_ever_see http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/491299/the_most_terrifying_video_you_ll_ever_see <p> Thanks to 'Nation' reader <a href="http://twitter.com/sarahelabance">Sarah Emily Labance</a> for introducing me to this brilliant and frightening video. It's the best argument I've seen yet for taking immediate action on climate change. The logic would seem undeniable even for the denialists. </p> <p> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zORv8wwiadQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zORv8wwiadQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/491299/the_most_terrifying_video_you_ll_ever_see">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/siCtbebeEAsLX7x7GmBmTRAMaK8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/siCtbebeEAsLX7x7GmBmTRAMaK8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/siCtbebeEAsLX7x7GmBmTRAMaK8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/siCtbebeEAsLX7x7GmBmTRAMaK8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/FgdakraXo0w" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-02T11:56:57-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=491299 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/491299/the_most_terrifying_video_you_ll_ever_see http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/JBi1ftxnxQw/will_a_racial_divide_swallow_obama http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/491275/will_a_racial_divide_swallow_obama <p> On Sunday I went to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/nyregion/02rally.html">Prudential Center in Newark to hear President Obama </a>make the case for Governor Jon Corzine's reelection here in New Jersey. Already a strong supporter of Governor Corzine I wasn't going to be convinced. And I wasn't particularly excited about standing in a long line, on a chilly afternoon to listen to two men I've heard speak dozens of times. But I was determined to go. One year ago I'd been in Newark to hear candidate Obama make his closing arguments, and I wanted to check out what an Obama rally looks like one year later. </p> <p> Some elements of the atmosphere were familiar: insanely long lines, intense police presence, surprisingly jovial mood despite the chill. One thing was noticeably and distressingly different: the crowd waiting to see President Obama in Newark on Sunday was much less diverse than the crowd that greeted him in the waning days of the 2008 election. By my estimation the supporters in Newark yesterday were not exclusively, but certainly predominately, African American. </p> <p> The event mirrors recent trends in the polls. Presidential job approval polls by <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/politics.aspx">Gallup</a> have tracked two consistent trends in President Obama's ratings: overall decline and a widening racial gap between black and white Americans.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/491275/will_a_racial_divide_swallow_obama">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uLGxKldUfsGiLr_-raVfENIho0M/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uLGxKldUfsGiLr_-raVfENIho0M/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uLGxKldUfsGiLr_-raVfENIho0M/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uLGxKldUfsGiLr_-raVfENIho0M/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/JBi1ftxnxQw" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-02T11:29:45-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=491275 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/491275/will_a_racial_divide_swallow_obama http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/KfHjowkGBcs/berlin_israel_mexico_walls_across_the_world http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/491173/berlin_israel_mexico_walls_across_the_world <p> It's being called "the most ambitious commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall outside of Germany": <a href=http://www.wallproject.org/> "The Wall Project"</a> in Los Angeles -- and its political message will surprise many. Artists commissioned by the organizers have promised works that draw analogies between the Berlin Wall and the wall the Israelis have erected along the border with the West Bank, and the wall the US has erected along the Mexican border. </p> <p> That's not exactly the sort of thing Ronald Reagan had in mind when he stood in Berlin in 1989 and said "Tear down this wall!" </p> <p> LA's Berlin Wall anniversary commemoration has been organized by the Wende Museum, a private institution in Culver City, with the support of the City of L.A. It includes "The Wall Across Wilshire," a one-hour event on November 8 at which a replica of the Berlin Wall 60 feet long will be erected blocking Wilshire Blvd. in front of the County Museum of Art at midnight.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/491173/berlin_israel_mexico_walls_across_the_world">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eF7oo0P0gM82u0VTPHJ8f7vApEY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eF7oo0P0gM82u0VTPHJ8f7vApEY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eF7oo0P0gM82u0VTPHJ8f7vApEY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/eF7oo0P0gM82u0VTPHJ8f7vApEY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/KfHjowkGBcs" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-02T00:03:06-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=491173 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/491173/berlin_israel_mexico_walls_across_the_world http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/LuMBABXtX34/around_the_nation http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/491123/around_the_nation <p> It's hard to believe that a year ago this week we were watching President Obama's stunning victory. At 'The Nation', we were jubilant about a new era of possibility opened up by the election. New York City was filled with crowds cheering in the street. Since then it's been a bracing year - filled with promise and disappointment. </p> <p> This coming Thursday in 'The Nation', we'll be taking a look at one critical element of Obama's success: Young people. While pundits and strategists have raised ill-informed criticisms of "Generation Obama" in the past months - "where were they at the healthcare town hall meetings!?" asked many - no media outlet has actually tried to answer the question. We tracked a group of 30 young Obama volunteers and staff and delved into where they are now one year later. On Thursday our special issue, "Youth Power," looks at just that - what "Generation Obama" has been doing since we woke up last November 5th with a new President. The answers are surprising. </p> <p> A few other items of note this week. 'The Nation' had a reporting team in Chicago last week for the American Bankers Association conference, which returned with <a href="http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/20091109/slideshow_aba">some gripping images. Here is David Barreda's slideshow from the gathering</a>, which drew mass protests from progressives and workers. And <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/_by-estherk">here is some of reporter Esther Kaplan's best analysis</a> - done in spite of having her press credentials yanked by the conference organizers and being called a "mole for the protesters" by the ABA.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/491123/around_the_nation">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Y3M9YJP02Tz-FH-aKhD_g02mJ8M/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Y3M9YJP02Tz-FH-aKhD_g02mJ8M/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Y3M9YJP02Tz-FH-aKhD_g02mJ8M/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Y3M9YJP02Tz-FH-aKhD_g02mJ8M/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/LuMBABXtX34" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-01T20:11:24-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=491123 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/491123/around_the_nation http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/pPxXN-JIhd4/twitter_tweaks_social_media_with_new_lists_feature http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/490518/twitter_tweaks_social_media_with_new_lists_feature <p> Twitter, the over-hyped, under-appreciated social network for sharing chit-chat and links, just launched a tool enabling users to create their own lists on the site. The <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/10/30/the-tweeting-masses-get-lists/">Journal</a> explains the basics: </p> <p> <blockquote>The new feature allows Twitter users to organize the people they follow and streamline their feeds. Others can then follow their lists, sparing them the time of hunting for individual Twitterers with shared interests</blockquote> </p> <p> So what, right? </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/490518/twitter_tweaks_social_media_with_new_lists_feature">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tgXmvrr4V6hr5wOwyHlCQM7HMto/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tgXmvrr4V6hr5wOwyHlCQM7HMto/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tgXmvrr4V6hr5wOwyHlCQM7HMto/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tgXmvrr4V6hr5wOwyHlCQM7HMto/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/pPxXN-JIhd4" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-10-30T12:41:38-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=490518 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/490518/twitter_tweaks_social_media_with_new_lists_feature http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/hdYJ3GGKBAc/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490501/slacker_friday <p> <p> I've got a new Think Again column called "Obama's Commie Past Exposed Yet Again," and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta102909.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> Here's what I did last night. How were things in your city? </p> <p? Jerry Lee Lewis :
"Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On"</p> <p> Crosby, Stills and Nash:
"Woodstock"
"Marrakech Express"
"Almost Cut My Hair"</p> <p> Bonnie Raitt with David Crosby and Graham Nash:
"Love Has No Pride"</p> <p> Bonnie Raitt and Crosby, Stills and Nash:
"Midnight Rider"</p> <p>Jackson Browne with Crosby, Stills and Nash:
"The Pretender"</p> <p> James Taylor with David Crosby and Graham Nash:
"Mexico"</p> <p> Crosby, Stills and Nash with James Taylor:
"Love the One You're With"</p> <p>Crosby, Stills and Nash:
"Rock and Roll Woman"</p> <p> Crosby, Stills and Nash with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and James Taylor:
"Teach Your Children"</p> <p> Paul Simon:
"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"
"Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"
"You Can Call Me Al"</p> <p>Dion DiMucci with Paul Simon:
"The Wanderer"</p> <p> Paul Simon with David Crosby and Graham Nash:
"Here Comes the Sun"</p> <p> Paul Simon:
"Late in the Evening"</p> <p> Little Anthony and the Imperials:
"Two People in the World"</p> <p> Simon and Garfunkel: "The Sounds of Silence"
"Mrs. Robinson"/"Not Fade Away"
"The Boxer"
"Bridge Over Troubled Water"
"Cecilia"</p> <p> Stevie Wonder: "Blowin' in the Wind"
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)"
"I Was Made To Love You"
"For Once in My Life"
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"
"Boogie On Reggae Woman"</p> <p> Smokey Robinson with Stevie Wonder:
"The Tracks of My Tears"</p> <p> John Legend with Stevie Wonder:
"Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology)"</p> <p> Stevie Wonder with John Legend:
"The Way You Make Me Feel"</p> <p> B.B. King with Stevie Wonder:
"The Thrill Is Gone"</p> <p> Stevie Wonder:
"Living for the City"</p> <p> Stevie Wonder and Sting:
"Higher Ground"/"Roxanne"</p> <p> Stevie Wonder with Jeff Beck:
"Superstition"</p> <p> Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band:
"10th Avenue Freeze-Out"</p> <p> Sam Moore with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band:
"Hold On I'm Comin'"
"Soul Man"</p> <p> Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with Tom Morello:
"The Ghost of Tom Joad"</p> <p> John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band:
"Fortunate Son"
"Proud Mary"
"Oh. Pretty Woman"</p> <p> Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band:
"Jungleland"</p> <p> Darlene Love with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band:
"A Fine, Fine Boy"
"Da Doo Ron Ron"</p> <p> Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with Tom Morello:
"London Calling"
"Badlands"</p> <p> Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band:
"You May Be Right"
"Only the Good Die Young"
"New York State of Mind"
"Born To Run"</p> <p> Darlene Love, John Fogerty, Tom Morello, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Peter Wolf and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band:
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"</p> <p> <b>CHARLES PIERCE</b></p> <p> <b>NEWTON, MA.</b></p> <p>Hey Doc:</p> <p>"Here by the sea and sand/Nothing ever goes as planned."</p> <p> Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "C'mon Cat" (Chainsaw DuPont) -- Not even 
the fact that Mary Landrieu is a bought-and-paid-for What-Grayson-Said of
 the insurance industry can keep me from loving New Orleans. <p>Short Takes:</p> <p><b>Part The First</b>: Don't make Ms. Jane angry. <a href="http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/10/27/yes-i-dared-blanche-lincoln-to-filibuster-on-msnbc/">You wouldn't like her whe n
she's ANGRY</a>. Somebody smart is going to have to explain to me why "Go ahead and
filibuster, you jackasses" is politically unfeasible in a country where 
two-thirds of the people want what's being delayed.</p> <p> <b>Part The Second</b>: I like a lot of what he says, too, but, <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/grayson-calls-lobbyist-k-street-whore.php?ref=fpblg">if Alan Grayson is going to work talk radio's locked-ward</a>, he should probably stick with Art Bell's program. That said, this woman
 used to work for Enron, for pity's sake. Seems to be we're just haggling
 about the price.</p> </p> <p> <p><b>Part The Third</b>: As Interim Altercation Papist Correspondent, I'd like 
to point out to this rightist quota-hire that, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/opinion/26douthat.html">if HE</a> wants to be
<a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/3762449/2/istockphoto_3762449-peter-the-hermit.jpg">Peter The HERMIT</a>, he's going to have to <a href="http://danagoldstein.typepad.com/.a/6a00e0097ed640883301157189692e970b-800wi">grow a better BEARD</a>. Also, concerns about environmental destruction and the crippling effects
 of the poverty associated with Third World debt are "only tenuously 
connected to the Gospels," but atavistic theocratic loogie-hawking is just 
what, oh, <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/bible/mat005.htm#vrs3">St. MATTHEW</a> had
 in mind? Doesn't. Know. Dick. Of course, he lacked support because His 
Eminence, Cardinal Nutsy Fagen was busy <a href="http://www.popeater.com/2009/10/28/larry-david-urinates-jesus-catholics-curb/?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl2%7Clink5%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2F2009%2F10%2F28%2Flarry-david-urinates-jesus-catholics-curb%2F">ELSEWHERE</a>.</p> <p> <b>Part The Fourth</b>: I was informed by E-card this week that, on November 
19, we will all celebrate the 50th anniversary of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHk4VXMlE8Y">greatest cartoon show 
there ever will BE</a>. No doubt 
about it. I gotta get another hat.</p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490501/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zNBwxdMup-b7KZMlTtmjIA_ALsA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zNBwxdMup-b7KZMlTtmjIA_ALsA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zNBwxdMup-b7KZMlTtmjIA_ALsA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zNBwxdMup-b7KZMlTtmjIA_ALsA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/hdYJ3GGKBAc" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-30T12:08:29-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=490501 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490501/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/RfIdpZWsS1E/being_a_woman_is_not_a_pre_existing_condition http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/490472/being_a_woman_is_not_a_pre_existing_condition <p> 'This post was written by Nation intern and freelance writer <a href="http://twitter.com/ferndiaz">Fernanda Diaz</a>.' </p> <p> One of the most appalling practices of the health insurance industry is to deny <a href="http://community.feministing.com/2009/10/being-a-woman-is-not-a-pre-exi-1.html">women coverage because of pregnancy, rape, domestic abuse or HIV medication</a>--all of which have been discriminatorily labeled "pre-existing conditions" by some insurers. As the debate heats up over legislation about the "pre-existing condition" clause in many insurance programs, it's crucial to remind Congress that being a woman is not a pre-existing condition. </p> <p> The story of Christina Turner, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/insurance-companies-rape-_n_328708.html">uncovered by The Huffington Post Investigative Fund</a>, reflects the staggering injustice that can result from lack of regulation of the grounds on which companies can deny coverage. Turner's tale is not uncommon: she is a rape victim who was given anti-AIDS medicine after her sexual assault and was later denied coverage solely because of this preventative measure--insurers claimed that the HIV medication "raised too many health questions." The company announced it might re-consider if, in three or more years, she could prove that she was AIDS free.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/490472/being_a_woman_is_not_a_pre_existing_condition">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bjr6V4hkt7BtWmG05GiqB4P079c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bjr6V4hkt7BtWmG05GiqB4P079c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bjr6V4hkt7BtWmG05GiqB4P079c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bjr6V4hkt7BtWmG05GiqB4P079c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/RfIdpZWsS1E" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-10-30T11:21:52-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=490472 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/490472/being_a_woman_is_not_a_pre_existing_condition http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/CHGF75OxMac/iran_split_on_nukes http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/490419/iran_split_on_nukes <p> One thing I heard over and over again during my visit to Tehran in June was that the two sides in Iran's political divide were intent on sabotaging any US-Iran deal concluded by the other side. If President Ahmadinejad moves toward an agreement with the West over Iran's nuclear program, anaylsts told me, the centrist-reformist opposition would denounce it and work to unravel it. On the other hand, if former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi won the election, reformists told me, he would move toward exactly such a deal -- and the right-wing, including Ahmadinejad, would howl and oppose it. </p> <p> Well, Ahmadinejad won, Mousavi lost -- at least, that's how the story goes -- and voila! the prediction has come true. Ahmadinejad wants a deal, and Mousavi is trying to wreck it. </p> <p> Yesterday, on his web site, Mousavi issued a militant criticism of Ahmadinejad's diplomacy. Mousavi bitterly denounced the plan, supported by Ahmadinejad, to ship the bulk of Iran's enriched uranium to Russia and France for use in fabricating fuel for a medical-use reactor. That accord, announced October 1, in the first US-Iran talks in thirty years, was widely seen as a breakthrough. But Mousavi is having none of it. He said:</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/490419/iran_split_on_nukes">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NFq1DHk6tkf10s4tp9jk35oVA2A/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NFq1DHk6tkf10s4tp9jk35oVA2A/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NFq1DHk6tkf10s4tp9jk35oVA2A/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/NFq1DHk6tkf10s4tp9jk35oVA2A/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/CHGF75OxMac" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-10-30T09:20:01-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=490419 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/490419/iran_split_on_nukes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/BjGnnupuO44/oh_brother http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490242/oh_brother <p> <p> I've got a new Think Again column called "Obama's Commie Past Exposed Yet Again," and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta102909.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> I took a seminar at Yale in 1985 when I was getting my master's with Edward Said on the role of the intellectual. Everyone in the class wore black and quoted Derrida (with whom I also took a seminar, in French, of which I understood very little). Anyway, there was a rather imposing African-American fellow at the seminar table on the first day with a vest and tie, etc., and a big afro. He said nothing for the two-hour class and then at the end, was called and ripped into Said with every three-dollar word I had ever heard and many more I had not. It was like a fantasy come true--going back to school to show off how smart you were now; perhaps the coolest moment I've ever seen in a classroom. Then Said said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr. Cornel West," who apparently was an assistant professor in the Divinity School, letting the rest of us in on the joke. The amazingest thing about Cornel is what an original he is; there's never been anything like him: "Gramsci and Sly Stone both understood..." </p> </p> <p> <p> Anyway, I mention all of this because of the publication of 'Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud', an as-told to memoir written with David Ritz, who has apparently cornered the market on cool as-told-tos, having done Paul Schaffer's surprisingly excellent one, and also Lieber and Stoler's not-as-great one. I's published by something called Smiley Books and it's fun. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490242/oh_brother">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ffK78c3oNZeOJ2y9H3nZ_2yayik/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ffK78c3oNZeOJ2y9H3nZ_2yayik/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ffK78c3oNZeOJ2y9H3nZ_2yayik/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ffK78c3oNZeOJ2y9H3nZ_2yayik/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/BjGnnupuO44" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-29T16:29:40-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=490242 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490242/oh_brother http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/pKdmGT8sVmA/free_mohammad_othman_part_2 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/489654/free_mohammad_othman_part_2 <p> 'This post was written by Nation intern and freelance writer <a href="http://twitter.com/andreadcruz">Andrea D'Cruz</a>.' </p> <p> <a href="http://freemohammadothman.wordpress.com/">Mohammad Othman</a>, the Palestinian Stop the Wall and Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions activist, had his <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/485341/free_mohammad_othman">detention</a> extended yesterday by an additional 13 days by an Israeli military court. He has so far been held in solitary containment for 37 days, with no charges or evidence brought against him. </p> <p> Read this <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/485341/free_mohammad_othman">recent post</a> for background on his story. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/489654/free_mohammad_othman_part_2">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7TCzFunyVBRqjI1AA92f5slz6wM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7TCzFunyVBRqjI1AA92f5slz6wM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7TCzFunyVBRqjI1AA92f5slz6wM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/7TCzFunyVBRqjI1AA92f5slz6wM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/pKdmGT8sVmA" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-10-28T13:30:32-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=489654 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/489654/free_mohammad_othman_part_2 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/ZYce5ruLCAo/j_street_obama_and_israel http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/489601/j_street_obama_and_israel <p> I spent yesterday afternoon at the J Street conference, the meeting of the "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobbying group that was founded last year. (A <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/aipac-still-chosen-one">piece that I'd written on J Street </a>and AIPAC appeared in 'Mother Jones' in August.) </p> <p> The conference was very well attended, with something like 1,500 people taking part. Many of them were liberal, mainstream Jewish activists who would appear to be J Street's real target audience. The J Street philosophy is that there is a kind of "silent majority" of US Jews who aren't happy with Israel's expansionist polices and intransigence, and who don't believe they're represented properly by right-leaning groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Milling around, I spoke to a number of those in attendance. A couple of rabbis, from Massachusetts and California, said that the conference was an opportunity to meet with like-minded, liberal, pro-peace Jews. "When I stand up in my pulpit, with any kind of criticism of Israel, over settlements, Gaza, to say anything other than, 'Go, bomb them when you want,' it's considered anti-Israel," saud Rabbi Joshua Levine-Grater from Pasadena. "So it's thrilling to be here, to say, 'We love Israel, we believe in Israel's security, but the status quo isn't acceptable." </p> <p> That about sums up J Street's message. But it isn't enough to get even grudging support from Israel itself. Michael Oren, the American who serves as Israel's ambassador to the United States, <a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256557979099&amp;pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull">rebuffed a J Street invite </a>to attend or speak, saying that he was upset about "certain policies that caused concerns, aroused concerns," telling the 'Jerusalem Post': "I conveyed these concerns to J Street," but adding that his concerns were not "sufficiently allayed."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/489601/j_street_obama_and_israel">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0Bn3f7tmKsmhjYLkz9ftIziARs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0Bn3f7tmKsmhjYLkz9ftIziARs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0Bn3f7tmKsmhjYLkz9ftIziARs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0Bn3f7tmKsmhjYLkz9ftIziARs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ZYce5ruLCAo" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-10-28T11:28:22-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=489601 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/489601/j_street_obama_and_israel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/7XwnLG1gWMk/investigating_the_mortgage_crisis http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/489583/investigating_the_mortgage_crisis <p> In a <a href="http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2649">press release</a> last week, Chairman Edolphus Towns of the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform announced a major investigation "into whether mortgage companies employed deceptive and predatory lending practices, or improper tactics to thwart regulation, and the impact of those activities on the current crisis." </p> </p> <p> <p> This investigation is much needed, and frankly, overdue, as the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/15/real_estate/foreclosure_crisis_deepens/?postversion=2009101507Foreclosures:%20%27Worst%20three%20months%20of%20all%20time%27">foreclosure crisis has now hit record levels</a>. </p>   <p> The Committee has requested--and will subpoena if necessary--records from Wells Fargo, Bank of America (including Countrywide), JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Residential Capital (GMAC), and US Bank Home Mortgage.  It is also issuing a subpoena for records on Countrywide Financial's VIP program. </p>   <p> While the media seems focused on the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59M4D120091023">Countrywide VIP program</a> and questions of whether Towns himself benefited from it (he has denied doing so but will forward the documents to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct), I think the far more significant development here is the breadth of information the Committee is demanding from Big Banking. </p> </p> <p> <p> The records in question cover 2000 to 2008, and include: the number and types of mortgages issued (whether fixed rate, adjustable, subprime, etc.); number of foreclosures and on which types of mortgages for every month during that time period; any marketing strategies and target audiences for residential mortgages, home equity loans, or similar products; special benefits provided to officials with a regulatory relationship with the banks; any draft legislation pertaining to mortgage lending that was offered to legislators; and any coordinated campaigns with other banks to fight mortgage regulation. </p> </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/489583/investigating_the_mortgage_crisis">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IdnZEaVmH3JJjG4MnQzbHMv1GFI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IdnZEaVmH3JJjG4MnQzbHMv1GFI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IdnZEaVmH3JJjG4MnQzbHMv1GFI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IdnZEaVmH3JJjG4MnQzbHMv1GFI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/7XwnLG1gWMk" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-10-28T10:39:09-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=489583 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/489583/investigating_the_mortgage_crisis http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/eeTFUHsZvXU/playing_god_with_khristian_oliver http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/489225/playing_god_with_khristian_oliver <p> 'This post was written by Nation intern and freelance writer Andrea D'Cruz.' </p> <p> Ten years ago <a href="http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=427306">Khristian Oliver</a> was convicted of murder: during a burglary in March of 1998, Joe Collins, whose house was being robbed, arrived home. As the two burglars attempted to flee, he shot one of them. The other burglar, the then-20 year old Oliver, shot Collins before striking him in the head with a rifle butt, according to testimony at Oliver's April 1999 trial. </p> <p> After the trial, it emerged that jurors had consulted their bibles during sentencing deliberations -- something that the US Constitution specifically prohibits as "external influence." In a post-trial hearing later in 1999--the year of the sentencing--the judge was told by four jurors that several Bibles had been present in the jury room, that highlighted passages were passed between jurors, and that one read passages to other jurors. But the judge did not allow the defense to ask questions pertaining to the influence of the Bible's presence on the sentencing.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/489225/playing_god_with_khristian_oliver">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Kd-m26z0tw2LpAziOlqAMx4E42Y/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Kd-m26z0tw2LpAziOlqAMx4E42Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Kd-m26z0tw2LpAziOlqAMx4E42Y/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Kd-m26z0tw2LpAziOlqAMx4E42Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/eeTFUHsZvXU" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-10-27T16:04:47-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=489225 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/489225/playing_god_with_khristian_oliver http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/bfxifVPFJhg/the_iraqi_time_bomb http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/488957/the_iraqi_time_bomb <p> More and more, it seems that the Obama administration has utterly forgotten about Iraq. With its laser-like focus on Afghanistan and its diplomacy with Iran, it's rare that Iraq gets any attention. (That's true, too, even in The Dreyfuss Report.) A whole team of State Department and NSC staff is mobilized on the Iran issue, Afghanistan and Pakistan have their special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, and even the Sisyphus-like effort to deal with the Palestine-Israel problem has its own special envoy, George Mitchell. But Iraq is an orphan. At times, it's like the White House has put Iraq in a box called "George Bush's blunders," and it doesn't plan on looking into the box. There's no go-to person in the Obama administration for Iraq. Ambassador Christopher Hill, who's relatively new on the job, isn't an Arabist or an Iraqi specialist, and he's taking -- perhaps appropriately -- a hands-off attitude toward the swirl of Iraqi politics. </p> <p> But the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/world/middleeast/26iraq.html?ref=middleeast">devastating attacks in Baghdad </a>-- twin car bombs that killed more than 150 people and wrecked the Iraqi Ministry of Justice and the provincial council complex -- are a sign that Iraq is still simmering. The bombings were very similiar to <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/464365/iraq_explodes">the August 19 attacks </a>that destroyed the Iraqi foreign ministry and finance ministry. Then, as now, the bombers struck at the very heart of the Iraqi government. </p> <p> In January, Iraq will hold elections to determine whether Prime Minister Maliki remains in power. The parliamentary elections have spurred numerous Iraqi factions to maneuver in advance of the vote -- and most of those factions have armed wings, paramilitary forces and, in the case of the Kurds, whole national armies at their disposal. So far, despite the urgency of the problem, the current Iraqi parliament bas been unable to devise a formula for holding those elections and to pass a law governing them, though there are <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/Iraqs_Election_Law_Goes_To_Parliament_For_Approval_/1862282.html">reports today </a>that a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?_r=1&amp;ref=middleeast">compromise deal has been reached</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/488957/the_iraqi_time_bomb">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MTPLsoFFNkEnmGGNlWMIKs6aqAg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MTPLsoFFNkEnmGGNlWMIKs6aqAg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MTPLsoFFNkEnmGGNlWMIKs6aqAg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MTPLsoFFNkEnmGGNlWMIKs6aqAg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/bfxifVPFJhg" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-10-27T08:28:58-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=488957 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/488957/the_iraqi_time_bomb http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/qJpcQoZikwo/the_public_option_lives_big_victory_for_progressives http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/488539/the_public_option_lives_big_victory_for_progressives <p> Harry Reid just <a href="http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/reid-to-announce-opt-out-public-plan-today/?hp">announced</a> that he'll include a public option (with a provision that allows individual states to opt out of it) in the version of the health care bill he brings to the floor of the senate. This is a huge (though still partial) victory for progressives. Over the weekend there was a flurry of reporting over whether Reid would include the opt-out provision, or the "trigger" provision favored by Olympia Snowe, which would not create a public option unless and until some time in the future when health insurance costs had not diminished. The fact of the matter is, as David Sirota wrote <a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/09/12/trigger/index.html">here</a>, the trigger is simply a way to kill the public option. Had Reid included it in the floor bill, progressives would have had to muster 60 votes to pass an amendment to strip the trigger out and replace it with the opt-out language. There's no way they would have been able to do that. </p> <p> But with the opt-out public option included in the unamended floor-bill, opponents of the public option will now have to get 60 votes to pass their own amendment killing it, and they don't have those votes either. This means that the opt-out public option will almost certainly be in the final bill that comes up for a vote in the full senate. That's huge, since the house will also have a public option (an even stronger one, without the opt-out provision). </p> <p> Reid is essentially calling the bluff of recalcitrant senators like Nelson, Lincoln and Landrieu, because the only way they can defeat the public option now is to join a Republican filibuster, something that I think Reid is gambling they won't do. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/488539/the_public_option_lives_big_victory_for_progressives">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3B_zJmCw3VL2b3NKfcheXxQAceY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3B_zJmCw3VL2b3NKfcheXxQAceY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3B_zJmCw3VL2b3NKfcheXxQAceY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3B_zJmCw3VL2b3NKfcheXxQAceY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/qJpcQoZikwo" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-10-26T14:44:10-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=488539 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/488539/the_public_option_lives_big_victory_for_progressives http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/bdOLyF5lo5c/the_showdown_in_chicago http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/488519/the_showdown_in_chicago <p> The Showdown in Chicago is on! The ABA's <a href="http://www.aba.com/Events/Annual.htm">annual convention</a> has become the scene for a series of major protests, which are set to continue through Tuesday, when a major march and rally is planned. Dubbed "<a href="http://www.showdowninchicago.org/">the Showdown in Chicago</a>," thousands of Americans are demonstrating against Wall Street banks and calling for real financial reform. </p> <p> Groups like the National People's Action, the Service Employees International Union, Americans For Financial Reform and the AFL-CIO have turned out thousands of protesters. Sen. Richard Durbin (D - Illinois) addressed the protesters last night. Other conference speakers include Newt Gingrich, conservative columnist George Will and FDIC chairman Sheila Bair. </p> <p> Read my colleague Esther Kaplan's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/488403/anger_at_last ">eyewitness report</a> from the scene of the protests for details on what the protesters are demanding.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/488519/the_showdown_in_chicago">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5zjMXAbYgtc6KLt-Diz7XAFIk4U/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5zjMXAbYgtc6KLt-Diz7XAFIk4U/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5zjMXAbYgtc6KLt-Diz7XAFIk4U/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5zjMXAbYgtc6KLt-Diz7XAFIk4U/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/bdOLyF5lo5c" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-10-26T14:20:32-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=488519 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/488519/the_showdown_in_chicago http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/qEHJiM3LoA8/obama_s_afghan_compromise http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/488415/obama_s_afghan_compromise <p> With 14 more dead Americans today, in three helicopter crashes, it's beginning to look like President Obama will, after all, opt for a significant escalation of the war -- at least, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125632862358004497.html">according to the 'Wall Street Journal'</a>. On Saturday, the paper reported the first substantial leak about the president's plans after the weeks-long policy review: </p> <p> <blockquote>"The Obama administration is moving toward a hybrid strategy in Afghanistan that would combine elements of both the troop-heavy approach sought by its top military commander and a narrower option backed by Vice President Joe Biden, a decision that could pave the way for thousands of new U.S. forces. </p> <p> "The emerging strategy would largely rebuff proposals to maintain current troop levels and rely on unmanned drone attacks and elite special-operations troops to hunt individual militants, an idea championed by Mr. Biden. It is opposed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Kabul, and other military officials.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/488415/obama_s_afghan_compromise">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nKGTGulHko4zLN6WfiL4UuWGv8g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nKGTGulHko4zLN6WfiL4UuWGv8g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nKGTGulHko4zLN6WfiL4UuWGv8g/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nKGTGulHko4zLN6WfiL4UuWGv8g/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/qEHJiM3LoA8" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-10-26T11:40:35-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=488415 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/488415/obama_s_afghan_compromise http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/RhwXh6a_COA/around_the_nation http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/488190/around_the_nation <p> When former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's autobiography, 'Going Rogue: An American Life', comes out on November 17th, it won't go unanswered. Two of 'The Nation''s top editors, Richard Kim and Betsy Reed, are co-editors of 'Going Rouge: An American Nightmare', published by OR Books for release the same day. </p> <p> The cover may be tongue in cheek, but the anthology is no parody. Featuring essays from some of 'The Nation''s standout writers (Katha Pollitt, Max Blumenthal, John Nichols, Chris Hayes, Naomi Klein, Pat Williams, Gary Younge and JoAnn Wypijewski) and from some of the leading thinkers on the left (Matt Taibbi, Jessica Valenti, Eve Ensler, Michelle Goldberg, Dahlia Lithwick, Frank Rich and others), 'Going Rouge' is a serious look at former Governor Palin's record, her politics and her rise to power. (Disclosure: I have a piece in the book as well.) 'Going Rogue' also includes commentary from Alaskan journalists and bloggers who have covered Palin first-hand. </p> <p> In 'Going Rogue', Palin is expected to launch a broadside on progressive policy and values. In a year where a Facebook post by the former Governor parroting discredited myths about healthcare is treated by the mainstream media as something to be debated, not completely called out as a lie, we felt it was important to give readers a choice. Governor Palin will have her moment and present her case, but 'Going Rouge' offers a smart, lively counterpoint, and a look at how "Palinism" is impacting the current political debate. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/488190/around_the_nation">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/69urQo5u-RUkSbKCosSpQ6QdwRA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/69urQo5u-RUkSbKCosSpQ6QdwRA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/69urQo5u-RUkSbKCosSpQ6QdwRA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/69urQo5u-RUkSbKCosSpQ6QdwRA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/RhwXh6a_COA" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-10-25T16:25:24-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=488190 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/488190/around_the_nation http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/zujOzmHKTmw/combating_climate_change http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/488145/combating_climate_change <p> Kudos to <a href="http://www.350.org/">350.org</a> for organizing the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history. You wouldn't know it if you get your news from the 'New York Times', the Huffington Post or the blogosphere but yesterday there were more than 5,200 rallies and demonstrations in 181 countries making the case that climate change must be addressed immediately and forthrightly. </p> <p> The number 350 comes from a NASA research team headed by American climate scientist <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070507/hansen">James Hansen</a>, which surveyed both real-time climate observations and emerging paleo-climatic data in January of 2008. They concluded that above 350ppm CO2, the earth's atmosphere couldn't support "a planet similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted." Current global CO2 concentration is at 390 parts per million. </p> <p> "Glaciers and sea ice are melting, drought is spreading, and flooding is on the increase because our planet has reached a proven unsafe level of CO2 emissions," said 350.org founder and writer Bill McKibben in New York City yesterday. "Today's action is an example of the huge worldwide momentum we need to drive political change. Our leaders have heard from major corporations and big polluters for a long time--today, finally, they are hearing from citizens and scientists. And what they are hearing is 350."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/488145/combating_climate_change">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MAmqDeI8kutgh_-XRxmAIKJsQRI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MAmqDeI8kutgh_-XRxmAIKJsQRI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MAmqDeI8kutgh_-XRxmAIKJsQRI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MAmqDeI8kutgh_-XRxmAIKJsQRI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/zujOzmHKTmw" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-10-25T11:01:41-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=488145 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/488145/combating_climate_change http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/sXGBGyEvgIo/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/487588/slacker_friday <p> <p> We've got a new "Think Again" column called "It's a Bird. It's a Plane. It's...Cable News," and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta102209.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> My 'Nation' column, about Obama and Fox News and the rest of the media, is called "Just Don't Call It Journalism," and that's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091109/alterman">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> I did another piece on J Street for the IHT. It's called "Voices From the Wilderness" and that's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/opinion/15iht-edalterman.html?_r=1">here</a> and then 'Le Monde Diplomatique' asked me to do a podcast and that's here: <a href="http://podularity.com/2009/10/19/living-on-j-street/">Living on J Street</a>. </p> <p> <b>Philly gets everything!</b> </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/487588/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BHTci-mqPM6gZg_E8hdYTn_JPAc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BHTci-mqPM6gZg_E8hdYTn_JPAc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BHTci-mqPM6gZg_E8hdYTn_JPAc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BHTci-mqPM6gZg_E8hdYTn_JPAc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/sXGBGyEvgIo" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-23T14:17:25-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=487588 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/487588/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/2ZGlGdRI01g/a_day_of_climate_action http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/487496/a_day_of_climate_action <p> How to rally a global climate movement? That's the question the heros at <a href="http://www.350.org">350.org</a> take up in this <a href="http://www.350.org/video">video</a> highlighting the <b>4,641 global actions</b> currently planned for tomorrow, Saturday, October 24. </p> <p> <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dqof641pWys&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dqof641pWys&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> </p> <p> A year ago, NASA's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070507/hansen">James Hansen</a> and his team produced a landmark series of studies. They showed that if the amount of carbon in the atmosphere tops 350 parts per million, the planet "similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted" will be perhaps irreversibly harmed. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/487496/a_day_of_climate_action">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cRmXvG2gI1GjAFIf8zFAP26Wi3c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cRmXvG2gI1GjAFIf8zFAP26Wi3c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cRmXvG2gI1GjAFIf8zFAP26Wi3c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cRmXvG2gI1GjAFIf8zFAP26Wi3c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/2ZGlGdRI01g" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-10-23T11:41:58-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=487496 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/487496/a_day_of_climate_action http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/k4PgIFXRuMw/noescalation_org http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/487476/noescalation_org <p> <p> President Obama will soon make what could be the defining decision of his presidency. The course he chooses in Afghanistan will tell us a lot about the kind of country we will become during his administration. </p> </p> <p> <p> We have already been fighting in Afghanistan for twice as long as we fought in World War II. In fact, the United States and its NATO partners have had more than 40,000 troops in Afghanistan since 2006 and have spent <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091109/editors">more than $300 billion</a> on military and civilian operations. At this perilous moment, as we attempt to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the last thing we need is a "surge" of 40,000 more troops to fight on behalf of a corrupt and unpopular Afghan government. </p> </p> <p> <p> Security in the United States and the region depend not on this misguided surge, but on commonsense counterterrorist and homeland security measures: extensive intelligence cooperation, expert police work, border control, and the surgical use of special forces to disrupt imminent attack when needed. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/487476/noescalation_org">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iR_avRNfhb9GB_BjnngG2DjVLbc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iR_avRNfhb9GB_BjnngG2DjVLbc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iR_avRNfhb9GB_BjnngG2DjVLbc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iR_avRNfhb9GB_BjnngG2DjVLbc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/k4PgIFXRuMw" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-10-23T09:36:25-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=487476 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/487476/noescalation_org http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/DN9k9kHe1_o/precious http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/487322/precious <p> <p> We've got a new "Think Again" column called "It's a Bird. It's a Plane. It's...Cable News," and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta102209.html">here</a> </p> </p> <p> <p> My 'Nation' column, about Obama and Fox News and the rest of the media is called "Just Don't Call It Journalism," and that's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091109/alterman">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> I did another piece on J Street for the IHT. It's called "Voices in the Wilderness" and that's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/opinion/15iht-edalterman.html?_r=1">here</a> and then 'Le Monde Diplomatique' asked me to do a podcast and that's here: <a href="http://podularity.com/2009/10/19/living-on-j-street/">Living on J Street.</a> </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/487322/precious">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8rUjachHvdneoSsLUBRf5YKtQaw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8rUjachHvdneoSsLUBRf5YKtQaw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8rUjachHvdneoSsLUBRf5YKtQaw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8rUjachHvdneoSsLUBRf5YKtQaw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/DN9k9kHe1_o" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-22T13:03:07-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=487322 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/487322/precious http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/VLWNd9Jad4Q/low_income_students_need_your_help_updated http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/486937/low_income_students_need_your_help_updated <p> The school year is well underway, and most of you know how savage the budget cuts have been. Excellent teachers who care about their students –yes, they exist! --are struggling along without proper books, supplies, and equipment. Classroom libraries lack books, science labs lack materials, art programs lack the most basic supplies-- like paint! <p> In wealthy suburbs, affluent parents help fill the gap, but schools in low-income neighborhoods can't raise extra funds that way. Result: We expect students to achieve more than ever – and that's a good thing – but we don't provide the tools they need and too often can't afford to purchase for themselves: review texts for AP classes, graphic calculators, class sets of novels, even basic items like notebooks. <p> You can help! On <a href= http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/viewChallenge.html?id=497&amp;1256141188152&amp;1256141342738>my Giving Page</a> at www.donorschoose.org you can chip in to help buy a cello for an elementary-school music class in Mississippi, a class set of Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" for an AP English class in Washington DC, review books for an AP psychology class in New York City, art supplies for "at-risk" middle-schoolers in North Carolina --and much more. <p> We hear a lot about ineffective, ill-prepared teachers, but the ones who put themselves out on www.donorschoose.org are the ones who desperately want their students to succeed and who, through no fault of their own, need our help to get the tools to do their job. <p> Can you help? You can give any amount -- even $5! Small donations add up. No funds to spare right now? Send the link to your lucky friends, post it on your blog or Facebook page. <p> Every child should have an opportunity to play a musical instrument, read great books, take challenging courses, and learn in a safe, well-equipped classroom. You can help make it happen! <p> BONUS: send me your receipt for $50 or more for a project on my Giving Page and I will send you a signed copy of <a href= http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400063337/ref=s9_simz_gw_s0_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_s=center-2&amp;pf_rd_r=023XD98NZB4W7AXZA28M&amp;pf_rd_t=101&amp;pf_rd_p=470938631&amp;pf_rd_i=507846>The Mind-Body Problem</a>, my new book of poems. </p> <p> UPDATE: Thank you, Kelli from Santa Clarita, who is helping to purchase copies of "Guns, Germs and Steel" for a Global History honors class in a NYC school where 90% of the students qualify for free lunch. And thank you, Laura from Ithaca, who donated to fund review texts for an AP calculus class in a NYC high-poverty school AND also to buy paint for an art class in a high-poverty North Carolina middle school that focuses on "at risk" kids. <p> Note to commenters: It's great that you know all about what's wrong with the public schools (sarcastic eye roll), including teachers' poor "preperation" (like in spelling?), but what about chipping in to help kids who are in school right now and who have no say in school budgets or education policy or the priorities of teachers' unions? <p> You can light a candle AND curse the darkness. How about it? </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/486937/low_income_students_need_your_help_updated">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M1_vFLDid9CVOKDbeP3DkBMYLSg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M1_vFLDid9CVOKDbeP3DkBMYLSg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M1_vFLDid9CVOKDbeP3DkBMYLSg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M1_vFLDid9CVOKDbeP3DkBMYLSg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/VLWNd9Jad4Q" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-10-21T11:36:30-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=486937 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/486937/low_income_students_need_your_help_updated http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/H95LRYQhKCo/pushing_the_public_option http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/486869/pushing_the_public_option <p> It never hurts to get a sexy movie star on board. In this amusing new ad created by <a href="http://www.moveon.org/">MoveOn.org</a>, Heather Graham stars as the Public Option, showing how she'll force the lazy, bloated private insurance companies to get back in the game and compete for business. After all, competition is as American as apple pie. Featuring actor Peter Coyote as the narrator. </p> <p> <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvaJYYeXf70&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvaJYYeXf70&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> </p> <p> Call Congress today at 202-224-3121 and demand a public health insurance option.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/486869/pushing_the_public_option">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XWgEIUTvfVdhV25DYWx_WPtDw3k/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XWgEIUTvfVdhV25DYWx_WPtDw3k/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XWgEIUTvfVdhV25DYWx_WPtDw3k/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XWgEIUTvfVdhV25DYWx_WPtDw3k/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/H95LRYQhKCo" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-10-21T08:07:45-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=486869 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/486869/pushing_the_public_option http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/XC7849nMnCk/that_afghan_runoff_election http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/486867/that_afghan_runoff_election <p> Don't expect any miracles after President Karzai's decision to accept a second round in the much-disputed Afghan elections. (The latest totals give Karzai 49.7 percent of the vote from the August election, just under the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Earlier, Karzai had claimed 54 percent of the vote.) </p> <p> First of all, it's unlikely that a second round of elections will be much fairer, or better run, than the fraud-marred first round. Turnout, which was estimated to be about 30 percent in the August round, may fall further. In Pashtun areas, and in areas where the Taliban is strong, turnout was often 5 percent -- or less. </p> <p> Second, the extreme international pressure on Karzai makes him seem puppet-like, in spite of his defiance. He was called or visited by virtually the entire US government, and British Prime Minister Brown called Karzai three times in three days. Senator Kerry, who traveled to Afghanistan, met repeatedly with Karzai. In deciding to go along with a second round of elections, perhaps Karzai was acceding to the inevitable. But to many Afghans, his decision will look like what it is: a humiliating capitulation to US-UK pressure and intimidation. That can hardly enhance Karzai's ability to present himself as a credible national leader.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/486867/that_afghan_runoff_election">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KJLV0_OrVVmHVNE11N_JN2pAYXc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KJLV0_OrVVmHVNE11N_JN2pAYXc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KJLV0_OrVVmHVNE11N_JN2pAYXc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KJLV0_OrVVmHVNE11N_JN2pAYXc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/XC7849nMnCk" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-10-21T08:02:07-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=486867 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/486867/that_afghan_runoff_election http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/U99Jn2qNb5k/public_pensions_and_saving_souls http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/486673/public_pensions_and_saving_souls <p> <p> In recent years, I have written <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/221239">many times</a> of the tremendous public investment deficit facing this country. Our infrastructure is old, and it isn't being replaced or maintained--we need a real commitment in order to grow a sustainable and green economy in the twenty-first century. </p> </p> <p> <p> But resources are now harder than ever to come by, especially with the deficit hawks shrieking every time the Obama administration attempts to invest in an economic recovery. </p> </p> <p> <p> It should come as no surprise then that poised to cash-in on our national crisis are the same private equity folks whose casino culture brought us our current economic collapse. In our public assets--our bridges, highways, airports, etc.--they see an opportunity to leverage debt all over again, throw in gobs of money, raise user fees, and gain exorbitant short-term returns at the expense of the rest of us. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/486673/public_pensions_and_saving_souls">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LBHs6si5xCey5Y998LXIgztMiw0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LBHs6si5xCey5Y998LXIgztMiw0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LBHs6si5xCey5Y998LXIgztMiw0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LBHs6si5xCey5Y998LXIgztMiw0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/U99Jn2qNb5k" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-10-20T16:54:06-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=486673 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/486673/public_pensions_and_saving_souls http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/TjTee6yS2TY/around_i_the_nation_i http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/486074/around_i_the_nation_i <p> <p> A few quick hits from 'The Nation''s orbit this week: </p> </p> <p> <p> For a 144-year old magazine, we've tried hard to get up to speed on Twitter, Facebook and social networking. We were interested to see that our most read piece of the month so far is "Deadline Poet" <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091026/trillin">Calvin Trillin's poem</a>. The source of the traffic is as new as it gets: Tens of thousands of tweets, retweets and Facebook posts, with an assist from some great blogs like Jezebel and Feministing. Calvin is a treasure and we're lucky to have him each week; we're glad our twitter and facebook fans think so too. </p> </p> <p> <p> 'The Nation' is also trying its hand at slideshows, aiming to provide a more intimate view of critical issues. This week our <a href="http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/20091102/slideshow_gayrights">latest slideshow</a> looks at the advances made by the gay rights movement so far this year. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/486074/around_i_the_nation_i">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jeuGZAqlo1dHzoWYdERi2diygrc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jeuGZAqlo1dHzoWYdERi2diygrc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jeuGZAqlo1dHzoWYdERi2diygrc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jeuGZAqlo1dHzoWYdERi2diygrc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/TjTee6yS2TY" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-10-19T09:32:53-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=486074 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/486074/around_i_the_nation_i http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/EHTneSJY1Cs/who_is_the_taliban http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/486019/who_is_the_taliban <p> David Rohde's series "Held by the Taliban," which began running in the 'New York Times' on Sunday makes gripping reading. (You can read <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/world/asia/18hostage.html?hp">Part I here </a>and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/world/asia/19hostage.html?hp=&amp;pagewanted=print">Part II here</a>.) But so far, at least, it seems that Rohde isn't clear on what the Taliban is. And his confusion is important, because one's view of the Taliban is critical for US policy going forward. If the Taliban is one and the same with Al Qaeda, religious fanatics dedicated to a global jihad against the West above all, with no willingness to compromise, then that's one thing. But if the Taliban is a compex social organism whose leaders are separate and distinct from Al Qaeda, and if it's possible to persuade some or most of the Taliban's leadership and commanders to sit down and talk, then that's something else. </p> <p> At first, Rohde seems to imply that his view that the Taliban was not as militant and vicious as Al Qaeda was foolish: </p> <p> <blockquote>"I came to a simple realization. After seven years of reporting in the region, I did not fully understand how extreme many of the Taliban had become. Before the kidnapping, I viewed the organization as a form of 'Al Qaeda lite,' a religiously motivated movement primarily focused on controlling Afghanistan. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/486019/who_is_the_taliban">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W0UI0v0StZULjv1kSI1L7pGIhGk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W0UI0v0StZULjv1kSI1L7pGIhGk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W0UI0v0StZULjv1kSI1L7pGIhGk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/W0UI0v0StZULjv1kSI1L7pGIhGk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/EHTneSJY1Cs" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-10-18T22:31:09-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=486019 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/486019/who_is_the_taliban http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/d64Kqhl2HrY/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/485423/slacker_friday <p> <p> We've got a new "Think Again" column called, believe it or not, "I'll See Your Testicles...' (Catfight on the Right)" and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta101509.html">here</a>. (though perhaps they changed the title later in the day) </p> </p> <p> <p> Also, I did an op-ed on the move away from AIPAC-style politics for American Jews for the IHT, which is up on the NYT site, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/opinion/15iht-edalterman.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> <b>Classified section:</b> I'm selling fifty or so Miles Davis cds--everything on Columbia during the key period--mostly in beautiful box sets, etc, and would love to sell the whole thing as a package. Email if genuinely interested. Also, I have two lousy seats for Bruce on 11/8 and one for 11/7 I need to get rid of. Email below.... </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/485423/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/deABgN4CxGUZg51F_zrwkl5eYCo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/deABgN4CxGUZg51F_zrwkl5eYCo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/deABgN4CxGUZg51F_zrwkl5eYCo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/deABgN4CxGUZg51F_zrwkl5eYCo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/d64Kqhl2HrY" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-16T14:07:04-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=485423 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/485423/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_JpDe_HqdE8/why_arianna_doesn_t_get_it http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/485380/why_arianna_doesn_t_get_it <p> <p> I admire Arianna Huffington. She is a strong, bold voice in our media firmament. But in the last few days, she has advanced an idea which, in my view, is wrong. She is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/why-joe-biden-should-resi_b_320929.html">urging Vice President Biden to resign</a> if the Obama administration ignores his proposal to concentrate on counter-terrorist operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. </p> </p> <p> <p> Arianna argues that by doing so, Biden would be following in the hallowed tradition of US officials, like Elliot Richardson and Cyrus Vance, who resigned for reasons of principle. Richardson resigned after refusing to fire Archibald Cox; he did so to uphold the rule of law and to prevent the presidential abuse of power. Cyrus Vance resigned to protest the attempted military rescue of American hostages in Iran, which he believed jeopardized diplomatic and peaceful efforts to win their release. </p> </p> <p> <p> But the flaw in Arianna's reasoning is to equate Biden's advocacy of counterterrorism with principled stances on law and diplomacy. While Biden has been an important voice against escalation inside the administration, his proposal itself is questionable; it advances the doctrine of preventive military action that would violate the sovereignty of an American ally and that in the past has resulted in the death of innocent citizens. By any reasonable standard, Biden's position is a violation of international law because the United States is not under threat of an imminent attack from extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan and because the past eight years have made clear there are reasonable legal alternatives to protecting American lives in the form of intelligence and police actions that do not put innocent civilian life at risk. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/485380/why_arianna_doesn_t_get_it">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/L_aIWnTDxV45xTLxeEuzO0Xaj_U/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/L_aIWnTDxV45xTLxeEuzO0Xaj_U/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/L_aIWnTDxV45xTLxeEuzO0Xaj_U/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/L_aIWnTDxV45xTLxeEuzO0Xaj_U/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_JpDe_HqdE8" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-10-16T11:00:02-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=485380 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/485380/why_arianna_doesn_t_get_it http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/3SW86XLoJ3A/people_who_died http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/485054/people_who_died <p> <p> We've got a new "Think Again" column called, believe it or not, "'I'll See Your Testicles...' (Catfight on the Right)" and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta101509.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p>Also, I did an op-ed on the move away from AIPAC-style politics for American Jews for the 'International Herald Tribune', which is up on the 'New York Times' site, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/opinion/15iht-edalterman.html">here</a>. </p> <p>I'm getting to the age where the obituary pages are really starting to bum me out.  Wasn't <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/arts/music/15martino.html?_r=1&amp;ref=obituaries">AL MARTINO</a> wonderful in the GF? Wasn't <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/business/media/15robertson.html?adxnnl=1&amp;ref=obituaries&amp;adxnnlx=1255615461-eyAEv2JlemaiJep+/m8wDw">NAN ROBERTSON</a> brave to go after the 'Times' the way she did? Wasn't <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/arts/14kaminsky.html?ref=obituaries">Stuart Kaminsky</a> a fun read? But <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/sports/15albano.html?scp=1&amp;sq=Lou%20Albino&amp;st=cse">here</a> is the one that really got to me. Captain Lou Albano. What a great guy, even better in reality than in the "ring" or on the sidelines as the manager of the great Bruno Sanmartino. But how could Mr. Goldstein omit the greatest tribute to Lou from this otherwise loving obit? It's <a href="http://showhype.com/video/nrbq-captain-lou/">Psychedelic Pandemonium</a>. </p> <p> Speaking of obits, did I mention that I was briefly in a reading group with <a href="http://www.catholicboy.com/">Jim Carroll</a>. Really nice guy. He never heard the Drive-By-Truckers' version of "People Who Died" and so I played it for him on my iPod. So history moves forward... </p>   <p> "Gonna Huey, Dewey, and Louie all over the room." Who's for legalizing sex with ducks? Me, David Rudd, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXPcBI4CJc8">Garfunkel and Oates</a> (but I hope not that juvenile druggist/anal rapist, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091026/trillin">Roman Polanski</a>. </p>  </p> <p> <p>(By the way, did you notice that the above ducks all have rhyming names spelled totally differently?  Awesome, huh?) </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/485054/people_who_died">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IPBOf3p3tKNgPCqMwAzchPmtBks/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IPBOf3p3tKNgPCqMwAzchPmtBks/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IPBOf3p3tKNgPCqMwAzchPmtBks/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IPBOf3p3tKNgPCqMwAzchPmtBks/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/3SW86XLoJ3A" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-15T13:25:34-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=485054 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/485054/people_who_died http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/m6adIBmXh7k/facebookers_unite_help_madre_win_the_causes_challenge http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/484954/facebookers_unite_help_madre_win_the_causes_challenge <p> </p> <p> The Facebook Causes application is running a contest among its member do-good organizations. Every day, the group that has the most individual donors that day wins $1000; runner up gets $500. The grand winner – most individual donors by November 6 –wins, get this, $50,000! The runner-up gets $25,000 and the five next highest gets $10,000 each. Not too shabby! <p> Now here's the thing: MADRE, the women's rights organization, has joined the contest to raise funds for its work protecting women's rights workers in Afghanistan, where as I'm sure you know many have been threatened with death by the Taliban. MADRE needs your help to win one of these these generous prizes. Can you help? Yes, you can! The competition is for donors, not money totals, so all you need to do is go <a href="http://apps.facebook.com/causes/369238?gc=1"> here </a> and donate $10. In fact, you can donate $10 once a day every day from now till November 6th. If Madre wins even one day, it will get $1000, which is a significant amount. Today, October 15, by 3pm , would be a great time to donate, because with just a few more donors MADRE would beat an anti-choice group, Make Abortion UNTHINKABLE, for second place. That's $500 for women's rights, or $500 to take them away. Which should it be? <p> Please check this contest out, Facebookers, and be generous. Don't delay, because each day's mini-contest ends at 3 pm. <p> Read all about MADRE's work at www.madre.org. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/484954/facebookers_unite_help_madre_win_the_causes_challenge">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M9GFhGoRJDzp9nWM-Ved8CncyEA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M9GFhGoRJDzp9nWM-Ved8CncyEA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M9GFhGoRJDzp9nWM-Ved8CncyEA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M9GFhGoRJDzp9nWM-Ved8CncyEA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/m6adIBmXh7k" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-10-15T10:54:15-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=484954 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/484954/facebookers_unite_help_madre_win_the_causes_challenge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/lf9AuTtQo-U/the_house_is_on_fire http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/483996/the_house_is_on_fire <p> <p> It is now clear: our economy is shrinking, unemployment and underemployment are on the rise at nearly 20 percent, and a tsunami of foreclosures continues unabated--what we have on our hands is nothing less than a national emergency. </p> </p> <p> <p> That's why it's so critical that good thinkers and progressive activists are on top of this, paying attention to the human costs of this Great Recession. </p> </p> <p> <p> "I consider President Obama to be in the situation of having inherited a burning apartment building," <a href="http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/the_safety_net_and_the_recession/">said</a> Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), testifying before Congress. "He proceeded to gather all the available fire trucks and douse the fires in half the floors." </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/483996/the_house_is_on_fire">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Yk9EaKO0XtiwBclI0fh2oL2ibkA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Yk9EaKO0XtiwBclI0fh2oL2ibkA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Yk9EaKO0XtiwBclI0fh2oL2ibkA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Yk9EaKO0XtiwBclI0fh2oL2ibkA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/lf9AuTtQo-U" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-10-13T12:11:12-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=483996 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/483996/the_house_is_on_fire http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/xnlw0vTUCZA/berlin_postcard http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/482927/berlin_postcard <p> Saturday, October 3, was Reunification Day, the anniversary of the formal reuniting of East and West Germany in l990. Here in Berlin the big event was a weekend-long outdoor spectacle involving Die Riesen, giant marionettes created by the French street theatre company Royale de Luxe. Some two million people turned out to watch a huge little-girl giant and an even more enormous grown-up-man giant dressed as a deep-sea diver wandering in search of each other in various neighborhoods. It was meant as a 'maerchen" or fairy-tale, although no one seemed to know the story of the little girl and the deep-sea diver. Something about separation and reunion, anyway. Since it was a beautiful warm blue-sky day (one of the few! it rains a lot here) my husband and I set out to find them. We walked and walked through the Tiergarten and stood in a huge crowd on Unter den Linden but the promised giants didn't appear and eventually we had to leave. (Two bits of local anthropology you'd never see in New York: at the street fair stretching along Unter den Linden you could buy many kinds of alcoholic beverages, including schnapps, and just stand about pleasantly drinking; the great lawn in the Tiergarten, along which the crowds walked, was littered with the bicycles people had used to get there. Unlocked bicycles.) <p> My German teacher, Ursula, whom we ran into later, said the problem was that the little girl giant was kaputt. Sehr traurig! But late that night we saw the two giants at the Brandenburg Gate, sleeping. The little girl giant was sleeping on the big man giant's lap. You could hear them breathing very quietly. It was strangely moving. </p> <p> <p> </p> <p> In other news, Garrison Keillor reads my poems much better than I do: <p> <a href="http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2009/09/24">"What I Understood"</a> <p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/482927/berlin_postcard">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/y6JNB2x7c6ag4OAVtQ72-JFagGg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/y6JNB2x7c6ag4OAVtQ72-JFagGg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/y6JNB2x7c6ag4OAVtQ72-JFagGg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/y6JNB2x7c6ag4OAVtQ72-JFagGg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/xnlw0vTUCZA" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-10-10T14:13:30-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=482927 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/482927/berlin_postcard http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/cvI7MHjd9Xk/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/482673/slacker_friday <p> <p> We've got a new Think Again column called "CBS and Dan Rather--Doing the Right's Dirty Work," and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta100809.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> My 'Nation' column, "Where have you gone, William Safire?" is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091026/alterman">here</a>. </p> <p> Sal's got an interview with Hall &amp; Oates and Pierce follows below, which is followed by more mail. Now here's Sal: </p> </p> <p> <p> <b>Alter-reviews:</b> New H &amp; O Box Set. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/482673/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5VKfWRj87H48i9VaEOiRpJlkkdM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5VKfWRj87H48i9VaEOiRpJlkkdM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5VKfWRj87H48i9VaEOiRpJlkkdM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5VKfWRj87H48i9VaEOiRpJlkkdM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/cvI7MHjd9Xk" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-09T14:38:50-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=482673 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/482673/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/DfY0gsP-Vk4/sea_of_heartbreak http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/482196/sea_of_heartbreak <p> <p> We've got a new Think Again column called "CBS and Dan Rather--Doing the Right's Dirty Work," and it's <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta100809.html">here.</a> </p> </p> <p> <p> My 'Nation' column, "Where have you gone, William Safire?" is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091026/alterman">here.</a> </p> </p> <p> <p> The worst day of the Obama campaign for me was the day I got an email saying "Vote Charlie Rangel for Change." My congressman is quite properly a symbol of everything people hate about the Democratic Establishment and they are cowards for trying to sweep this away. If anyone can imagine a better symbol of corruption that a guy who can't be bothered to pay taxes on the resort he owns in foreign country--who gives the excuse that they were speaking Spanish to him when half his district is Spanish speaking--writing the goddam tax laws that the rest of us losers have to follow, I'd be mighty impressed... I wrote <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090112/alterman">this column</a> in December 2008, things have only gotten worse. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/482196/sea_of_heartbreak">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RWsQ1CMdL118Jsj17Nm2ryQwEoA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RWsQ1CMdL118Jsj17Nm2ryQwEoA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RWsQ1CMdL118Jsj17Nm2ryQwEoA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RWsQ1CMdL118Jsj17Nm2ryQwEoA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/DfY0gsP-Vk4" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-08T14:09:25-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=482196 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/482196/sea_of_heartbreak http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/S-bX4Kn84ZE/rural_health_care_the_public_option_and_the_opt_out_compromise http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/482122/rural_health_care_the_public_option_and_the_opt_out_compromise <p> The latest health care legislative compromise being floated is one in which states would be allowed to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/07/dems-discussing-public-op_n_313054.html">opt out</a> of offering a public option. Chris Bowers lists the problems with the proposal <a href="http://www.openleft.com/diary/15437/optout-of-spite">here</a>. Ezra's more <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/10/a_public_option_compromise_tha.html">sanguine</a>. </p> <p> I suppose if someone put a gun to my head and the options were no public option or an opt-out compromise, I'd opt for the latter. (I should point out we're not at the gun-at-the-head stage yet). But it's also important to point out just how perverse the results of this compromise would be. </p> <p> Red, rural states would almost all probably opt out and yet it's rural America that needs the public option the most. As the Center for Community Change points out in a new <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;ct=res&amp;cd=2&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fneappleseed.org%2Fdocs%2FCCC_sweet_lovfin.pdf&amp;ei=YwTOSqHQC9rk8AbYo7SDBA&amp;usg=AFQjCNFC3EgsnuyayMf7zVrwy6E0ZJec_w&amp;sig2=RQFO4iseY9Dk_ey3dqkttg">report [PDF]</a> people who live in rural areas are a) more likely to be underinsured, because fewer people receive insurance from their employers and b) live in markets where there is essentially no competition. In Alabama one health insurance company has 90% market share, in South Dakota, it's two companies. It's under these circumstances where the public option is most needed. In fact, I was talking about this issue with a health care wonk (who works for the government and so can't go on record) and she went so far as to put it this way:</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/482122/rural_health_care_the_public_option_and_the_opt_out_compromise">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mDzB08RMoJlDvQERpTgnuRaqhF4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mDzB08RMoJlDvQERpTgnuRaqhF4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mDzB08RMoJlDvQERpTgnuRaqhF4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mDzB08RMoJlDvQERpTgnuRaqhF4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/S-bX4Kn84ZE" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-10-08T10:32:55-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=482122 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/482122/rural_health_care_the_public_option_and_the_opt_out_compromise http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/4ee2vnPkChk/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/480179/slacker_friday <p> <p> We've got a new "Think Again" column called called "Kevin Jennings, the Mainstream Media, and Right-Wing Target Practice." Read it <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/ta100109.html">here</a>. Now here's Pierce: </p> </p> <p> <p> <b>CHARLES PIERCE<br/> NEWTON, MA.</b> </p> </p> <p> <p> Hey Doc: </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/480179/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IgMVzHz6og6XPmvqKHjuzHVFwsw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IgMVzHz6og6XPmvqKHjuzHVFwsw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IgMVzHz6og6XPmvqKHjuzHVFwsw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/IgMVzHz6og6XPmvqKHjuzHVFwsw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/4ee2vnPkChk" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-10-02T10:59:53-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=480179 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/480179/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/wweFDaPOMGA/roman_polanski_has_a_lot_of_friends http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/479379/roman_polanski_has_a_lot_of_friends <p> <p> If a rapist escapes justice for long enough, should the world hand him a get-out-of-jail-free card? If you're Roman Polanski, world-famous director, a lot of famous and gifted people think the answer is yes. Polanski, who drugged and anally raped a thirteen-year-old girl in 1977 in Los Angeles, pled guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor and fled to Europe before sentencing. Now, 32 years later, he's been arrested in Switzerland on his way to the Zurich film Festival, prompting outrage from international culture stars: Salman Rushdie, Milan Kundera, Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodavar, Woody Allen (insert your own joke here), Isabelle Huppert, Diane von Furstenberg and many, many more. Bernard-Henri Levy, who's taken a leading role in rounding up support, has said that Polanski "perhaps had committed a youthful error " (he was 43). Debra Winger, president of the Zurich Film Festival jury, wearing a red "Free Polanski" badge, called the Swiss authorities action "philistine collusion." Frederic Mitterand, the French cultural minister, said it showed "the scary side of America" and described Polanski as "thrown to the lions because of ancient history." French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, co-founder of Doctors Without Borders, called the whole thing "sinister." </p> </p> <p> <p> Closer to home, Whoopi Goldberg explained on 'The View' that his crime wasn't 'rape rape,' just, you know, rape. Oh, that! Conservative columnist Anne Applebaum minimized the crime in the 'Washington Post'. First, she overlooks the true nature of the crime (drugs, forced anal sex, etc), and then claims "there is evidence Polanski did not know her real age." Talk about a desperate argument. Polanski, who went on to have an affair with 15-year old Nastassja Kinski, has spoken frankly of his taste for very young girls. ('Nation' editor-in-chief Katrina vanden Heuvel, who tweeted her surprise at finding herself on the same side as Applebaum, has had second thoughts: "I disavow my original tweet supporting Applebaum. I believe that Polanski should not receive special treatment. Question now is how best to ensure that justice is served. Should he return to serve time? Are there other ways of seeing that justice is served? At same time, I believe that prosecutorial misconduct in this case should be investigated.") On the 'New York Times' op-ed page, schlock novelist Robert Harris celebrated his great friendship with Polanski, who has just finished filming one of Harris' books: "His past did not bother me." This tells us something about Harris' nonchalant view of sex crimes, but why is it an argument about what should happen in Polanski's legal case? </p> </p> <p> <p> I just don't get this. I understand that Polanski has had numerous tragedies in his life, that he's made some terrific movies, that he's 76, that a 2008 documentary raised questions about the fairness of the judge (see <a href="http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2009/02/19/ roman_polanski_documentary/">Bill Wyman in Salon</a>, though, for a persuasive dismantling of its case.). I also understand that his victim, now 44, says she has forgiven Polanski and wants the case to be dropped because every time it comes up she is dragged through the mud all over again. Certainly that is what is happening now. On the Huffington Post, Polanski fan Joan Z. Shore, who describes herself as co-founder of Women Overseas for Equality (Belgium), writes: " The 13-year-old model 'seduced' by Polanski had been thrust onto him by her mother, who wanted her in the movies. The girl was just a few weeks short of her 14th birthday, which was the age of consent in California. (It's probably 13 by now!)." Actually, in 1977 the age of consent in California was 16. Today it's 18, with exceptions for sex when one person is underage and the other is no more than three years older. Shore's view--that Polanski was the victim of a nymphet and her scheming mother--is all over the internet. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/479379/roman_polanski_has_a_lot_of_friends">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m_VIzlTxWL5iAuzHHW8hgRreHb8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m_VIzlTxWL5iAuzHHW8hgRreHb8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m_VIzlTxWL5iAuzHHW8hgRreHb8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/m_VIzlTxWL5iAuzHHW8hgRreHb8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/wweFDaPOMGA" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-10-01T01:40:13-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=479379 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/479379/roman_polanski_has_a_lot_of_friends http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/9v3Mlv2VF8E/wade_rathke_speaks_out http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/479224/wade_rathke_speaks_out <p> This comes from 'Nation' DC intern Eric Naing: </p> <p> <blockquote>Just a few weeks ago, a book talk by ACORN founder Wade Rathke wouldn't have drawn much press attention, but the organization's recent notoriety as a conservative boogeyman has thrust Rathke back in the spotlight. </p> <p> At an event on Tuesday to promote his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Wealth-Winning-Campaign-Families/dp/1576758621">Citizen Wealth: Winning the Campaign to Save Working Families</a>, Rathke drew the attention of major media outlets ranging from The Washington Post to National Review. Notably, a reporter from <a href="http://biggovernment.com/">biggovernment.com</a>, the Web site that brought us the infamous pimp and prostitute videos, was there with a cameraman to get another bite at the proverbial, um, ACORN.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/479224/wade_rathke_speaks_out">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RBn8mYkqh1-15FaH9Lj4YwYvbGo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RBn8mYkqh1-15FaH9Lj4YwYvbGo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RBn8mYkqh1-15FaH9Lj4YwYvbGo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/RBn8mYkqh1-15FaH9Lj4YwYvbGo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/9v3Mlv2VF8E" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-09-30T18:34:21-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=479224 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/479224/wade_rathke_speaks_out http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_qfwtZalj14/rohrabacher_to_iraqis_be_more_grateful http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/474337/rohrabacher_to_iraqis_be_more_grateful <p> This dispatch comes from brand new crack DC intern <b>Eric Naing</b>: </p> <p> <blockquote>The House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight met today to discuss issues of sovereignty and stability in Iraq ranging from the country's longstanding financial obligation to neighboring Kuwait to its even longer-standing issues with the Kurdish people. But Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) seemed mostly interested in berating the Iraqis for their lack of gratitude </p> <p> At the hearing, Saleh al Mutlaq and former Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, both members of Iraq's Council of Representatives, spoke about Iraq's future and the importance of the country's upcoming elections.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/474337/rohrabacher_to_iraqis_be_more_grateful">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8AmlGbHitq0884X8ZPx_BkLlB1M/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8AmlGbHitq0884X8ZPx_BkLlB1M/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8AmlGbHitq0884X8ZPx_BkLlB1M/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8AmlGbHitq0884X8ZPx_BkLlB1M/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_qfwtZalj14" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-09-17T14:09:51-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=474337 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/474337/rohrabacher_to_iraqis_be_more_grateful http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/pJKlehzu8d0/does_joe_wilson_believe_the_president_was_actually_lying http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/471159/does_joe_wilson_believe_the_president_was_actually_lying <p> First of all: I'm back! Somewhere in the Bible it decrees that blogs must be left fallow in August, which explains my absence. </p> <p> Like everyone else I watched the speech last night. (Quick review: deft explanation of the policy, a few unnecessary political concessions, extremely aggravating lefty-bashing, and genuinely fantastic inspirational finish). And like everyone else I've been following the Joe Wilson "You Lie!" flap. </p> <p> Now here's what I think is most fascinating about the incident: It's pretty clear to me that Wilson's outburst wasn't calculated grandstanding but a genuine moment of rage and frustration. Just look at the <a href="http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/does-joe-wilsons-you-lie-charge-stand-up.php?ref=fpb">photo</a>. That's a genuinely pissed off dude.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/471159/does_joe_wilson_believe_the_president_was_actually_lying">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0NX1fGMUZPtwD5RBPngppApw5uM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0NX1fGMUZPtwD5RBPngppApw5uM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0NX1fGMUZPtwD5RBPngppApw5uM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0NX1fGMUZPtwD5RBPngppApw5uM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/pJKlehzu8d0" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-09-10T08:31:23-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=471159 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/471159/does_joe_wilson_believe_the_president_was_actually_lying http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/A6mZAh7fUY8/perils_of_the_poetry_reading http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/467908/perils_of_the_poetry_reading <p> Am I the only person who finds it hard to follow an unfamiliar poem when I hear it read out loud and don't have the text in front of me? Even when reading to myself at my own pace, I might have to go over a poem several times to really get it, but at a reading, the poems whizz by unstoppably-- no chance of a second hearing, and all the helpful visual cues of print , like punctuation, italics, quotation marks, and even line breaks, are absent. A stray thought enters my head -- I wonder why they painted this room turquoise? -- and in seconds I've lost the thread. (I'm speaking of what you might call "literary poetry" here, poetry written primarily to be read silently, not spoken word, which is intended for the ear from the outset.) <p> I often find that the poems I've enjoyed most at a reading seem oddly flat on the page when I hunt them down in a book. What made the poem seem striking and fresh was the poet's performance: the energy and especially the humor was in the voice and manner and gestures, not the words themselves. Or it was the story the poem told: the poetry reading as a series of anecdotes, with the poet placing and embellishing each one in his introductions: My uncle ran a chicken farm in Iowa, and when he ran off with the Methodist minister's wife my aunt killed all the chickens and gave them to the nuns, and out of that comes this next poem, "Saint Rooster and the Holy Choir of Hens." it's been suggested, in fact, that the proliferation of poetry readings, and their importance to a poet's career, has actually changed the way poets -- "literary poets" -- write, encouraging verbal simplicity, talkiness, easy emotions, simple narratives, and punchlines. It's the poet as stand-up comedian/tragedian. <p> Still, you can see why poets would try to shape their art to please their audience -- and notice how we now commonly speak of poetry's audience rather than poetry's readers, which tells you something right there. It can be painful and embarrassing to stand up before a small group of miscellaneous strangers who expect you to entertain them and instead offer poems they might find bewildering, or remote. I've given readings at which I just want to say, oh well, never mind, let's just go have a beer and talk about health care reform. <p> Wislawa Szymborska's "Poetry Reading" (translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh) may be the definitive account of a reading at its awful, humiliating worst. To paraphrase the old Jewish joke about the Catskills hotel ("The food is terrible!" "Yes, and the portions are so small!"), the audience is not only tiny, it's not even listening. And yet, Symborska disperses her pity, her warmth and her satirical humor so evenly among poets and audience members and even the muse, poor thing, that what in lesser hands would be just another complaint about the world's indifference to art becomes a gesture of understanding, forgiveness, love. </p> <p> <p> </p> <p> POETRY READING <p> To be a boxer, or not to be there <br/> at all. O Muse, where are our teeming crowds? <br/> Twelve people in the room, eight seats to spare -- <br/> it's time to start this cultural affair.<br/> Half came inside because it started raining, <br/></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/467908/perils_of_the_poetry_reading">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sQ4OuxaEqDWoFbAnxwdLod05R3g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sQ4OuxaEqDWoFbAnxwdLod05R3g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sQ4OuxaEqDWoFbAnxwdLod05R3g/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sQ4OuxaEqDWoFbAnxwdLod05R3g/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/A6mZAh7fUY8" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-08-29T22:26:40-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=467908 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/467908/perils_of_the_poetry_reading http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/FYo_ORofgLk/a_friend_reports_from_a_town_hall_meeting http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/467109/a_friend_reports_from_a_town_hall_meeting <p> (Claire Moses, professor of women's studies at the University of Maryland, describes the town hall meeting on health care held by Democratic Rep. Jim Moran in Reston, Virginia, on August 25. Sounds pretty wild! Note that even when progressives make up the majority of the audience, the antis steal the show.--KP) <p> </p> <p> I just came from a Town Hall Meeting run by our congressional representative (Jim Moran, a progressive--favors the public option, etc.). He had Howard Dean with him to give a pep talk and to answer questions. One thing that the friends I was with all mentioned was that we have never been at such a political event where opposing sides were in attendance. We're so used to campaign rallies and civil rights, reproductive rights, and anti-war demonstrations--all of which give off good vibes because we're among so many people we agree with. Of course, there are the hecklers along the sides--but they're not participants. This was quite a bit different. <p> The event started at 7 p.m. The doors opened at 6, but MoveOn.org had suggested we get there before 5, and it's a good thing we did because the lines already snaked around and around. I don't know if we could have gotten in if we'd come any later. While waiting in line, we saw lots of protestors who were part of Lyndon Larouche's group (he lives around here; I don't know if their anti-Obama hate campaign is national). They had the Obama signs with the Hitler moustache. But I don't think they actually came into the meeting--just walked up and down the waiting line. (I believe that the doorkeepers were checking to see if everyone entering was from this Congressional District; but they obviously failed in at least one significant case--so I don't know how carefully they tracked this.) <p> Inside, the significant majority was progressive--and not just on healthcare: some of the people circling the auditorium had anti-war, anti-military signs and they got big applause. (Jim Moran voted against the Iraq war.) But there was also a significant minority against healthcare reform--with the expected anti-"socialism" or "we can't afford it" signs. None of the "anti" signs were too, too horrific. Not like the Larouchees outside with their Obama=Hitler signs. But there was a lot of chanting back and forth. And the antis tried hard to interrupt Moran. But still nothing horrific. <p> </p> <p> And then Moran introduced Dean--who got a resounding standing ovation from the audience. We quieted down...he began to speak...and before we knew what was happening stood up in the center of the auditorium and started screaming "we won't pay for murder"--or something like that. One man, in the center of the group, was standing on a chair--looking like an orchestra leader--and immediately Moran recognized him and named him: it was Randall Terry! It was amazing! I do believe that they were after Dean--because they did nothing to protest, or participate in the anti-healthcare reform chants, or any interrupting until Dean started to speak. (Moran votes always in favor of whatever reproductive rights issue might come up in the House, but Terry's group didn't interrupt his almost hour-long talk.) Anyway--Moran told the audience who he was, and everyone (well, I suppose not "everyone") started chanting "go home." Moran actually offered him an opportunity to talk: offered him the choice of asking his question (offered him 5 minutes!) or he would be escorted out of the auditorium. Since Terry didn't choose to ask a question, he and his entire entourage were escorted out and calm was restored and that was that. Of course, there were more interruptions--but at least it was from the group that opposed healthcare reform. <p> The question-and-answer portion of the meeting was worthless. Moran took questions equally from the pro- and the anti- groups-but none of the questions were enlightening in either direction. And I have to say, if I were opposed to reform, I'd have been upset by the way Moran cut them off. <p> The one thing I can say, though, is that after this meeting I have a much better idea of what's in the House bill that is most likely to be passed (H.R. 3200). <p> On the other hand, some of the sloganeering--on our side--bothers me, because it is just plain wrong. The purpose is supposed to be to reassure people who fear "change," but all it does is water down the importance of the change. For example, Moran talked about the problems with the insurance companies and how some of the regulations and minimum standards and the existence of the public option will rein them in. He even talked about the horrors of insurance denied, etc. Then he said that "85% of Americans are covered by private health insurance and they needn't worry that anything for them will change." You've heard this same statement from Obama--how can they be so stupid as to keep repeating this "nothing will change" statement! There were other things like this: "no employer can make any employee take the public option." But what happens when employers drop health insurance, as so many have done and more will do? won't that "force" employees into the public option? Not that I'm opposed to the public option--but this kind of talking out of both sides cannot help our case.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/467109/a_friend_reports_from_a_town_hall_meeting">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nL6nQBqzjCgd9cfufED8yAywxQw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nL6nQBqzjCgd9cfufED8yAywxQw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nL6nQBqzjCgd9cfufED8yAywxQw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nL6nQBqzjCgd9cfufED8yAywxQw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/FYo_ORofgLk" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-08-27T10:29:54-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=467109 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/467109/a_friend_reports_from_a_town_hall_meeting http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/LwSHud6lqx0/voting_in_kabul http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/465610/voting_in_kabul <p> (Women for Afghan Women, a humanitarian organization I've supported for many years, runs a shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence in Kabul, and a smaller one in Mazar-i-sharif. In this update to her August 19th letter detailing the anxiety leading up to election day, WAW executive director Manizha Naderi reports on voting in Afghan elections on August 20. For more information about WAW, and to make a donation, go <a href="http://womenforafghanwomen.org/">here</a>.) </p> <p> <p> Dear WAW Supporters: <p> Thank you for all the supportive emails we have received since my last update a few days ago. <p> All of you have probably heard from news reports, the elections went on as planned and with far fewer violent attacks than we all expected. The Afghan news reports said that there were 135 rocket attacks around Afghanistan and about 20 people were killed. <p> Our centers, staff and clients were safe. There were no incidents. Now we are all waiting for the announcement of the winner. The government has forecasted that there will be demonstrations. I might close the Kabul Family Guidance Center for another few days when that happens. <p> On election day I went to vote. I went with my husband, his sister Naseema, her two sons, and also my babysitter Nafis Gul and her daughter. Everything was peaceful. Turnout was low. Besides us there were 4 other men there to vote. This was the first time that Nafis gul and Naseema were voting. I was very excited for them. <p> While I was at the polls there were no other women there besides us. But from what we've heard, women showed up at the polls everywhere. More women voted in the North than in the South (for obvious reasons). The Taliban had threatened anyone who voted and had ink on their fingers. They said that they will cut that finger. Even then these brave people went out to vote. But overall voter turnout was lower than last time. <p> It was incredibly empowering to vote. It was my first time to vote in Afghanistan. It was even more empowering for Nafis Gul and Naseema. This was their first time to vote in their lives. They didn't know what to expect. Before the elections I had spoken to them about how important it was to vote. I told them that if they didn't vote, they couldn't complain later about the results. So it was like their birthday. It was very special. <p> Everyone is now waiting for the results. People are afraid if Karzai wins, then Dr. Abdullah's people are going to hold violent demonstrations. <p> Karzai--we've seen what he's done already. His major plan if he wins is to negotiate with the Taliban-which WAW is against. <p> Dr. Abdullah--His major flaw is that he was a warlord during the civil wars. WAW stands in solidarity with leaders like Malalai Joya who risked her life by denouncing the presence of warlords in the institutions which govern the nation. Men who have killed and raped have no place in the government, let alone as President. <p> Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai--He's the most qualified although he probably won't win the election. In the TV debates, Mr. Ahmadzai won every debate. He has really good plans for the economy. He's the only person who talked a little about bringing women into the government. <p> I was dismayed that all candidates downplayed women's roles. It was like they didn't want to talk about women. Both Karzai and Dr. Abdullah have claimed victory. People think that if Karzai wins Dr. Abdullah's people will become violent. <p> I am happy that the election took place, but since it looks like Karzai is going to win, I am not very hopeful. We will have the same old again. More corruption and wasting money. This time, he'll negotiate with the Taliban. Hopefully I'll be wrong about him. Women here are angry that Karzai signed the Shi'ia law in such a stealthy way right before the elections. We are waiting to see the full text of the law that was signed before we make an official WAW comment. <p> I will write again soon about the two clients who arrived in our shelter on the night before election day. Our drivers drove them from the police station to the shelter in the middle of the night. I will be meeting them today. <p> It is a huge comfort to know that our supporters are now beginning to hear more about our day to day work in Afghanistan and the tensions and challenges of doing work in a war zone. I am grateful to each one of you for caring. Do send us a donation if you can, as much or as little as you can. <p> Manizha Naderi <br/> Executive Director, Women for Afghan Women </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/465610/voting_in_kabul">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qkAXG1VJARfqh6fCIc9niFiknOU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qkAXG1VJARfqh6fCIc9niFiknOU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qkAXG1VJARfqh6fCIc9niFiknOU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qkAXG1VJARfqh6fCIc9niFiknOU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/LwSHud6lqx0" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-08-23T14:02:58-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=465610 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/465610/voting_in_kabul http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/fp---4xOVD0/letter_from_kabul http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/464509/letter_from_kabul <p> (Women for Afghan Women, a humanitarian organization I've supported for many years, runs a shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence in Kabul, and a smaller one in Mazar-i-sharif. In this urgent letter, Manizha Naderi details local conditions as the country prepares to vote on August 20th. I'm reprinting it here with WAW's permission. For more information about WAW, and to make a donation, go <a href="http://womenforafghanwomen.org/">here</a>.) </p> <p> Wonderful Supporters of WAW, </p> <p> Writing this quickly because internet keeps failing. Security is really bad in Kabul. Yesterday there were 2 suicide bombings and 6 rockets attacks. Today 5 suicide bombers were holding up a bank in the city. They were killed along with 4 police men. And I have been hearing the sounds of rockets all day today but the media is not allowed to report on any violence until after the elections. <p> I have been under a lot of stress lately. I have over 100 staff members and 112 people in our shelters to keep safe. <p> For the past two weeks, our staff have stayed in the office and we have not been doing home visits to clients. Starting today our centers are closed, and staff has been asked to stay at home. I've asked our drivers to take the cars home with them so if there are any emergencies, they can get to the shelter fast. <p> We currently have 68 women and 12 children in the Kabul shelter and 32 women and 4 children in the Mazar shelter. Last night the police called us and referred 2 new cases to us. <p> We have tried to ensure the participation of women in the elections. We have helped many women (our clients who are living at home rather than in our shelters) get registered to vote. I have also encouraged our staff to vote on election day. <p> We cannot take the women from the shelter to vote on election day. It will simply be too dangerous. Also I don't want people in the neighborhood to find out that a lot of women are living in one house. <p> I will try and send another update soon. Thank you all for caring about this beleaguered country and it's women and girls. Please pray for us during these terrifying days. <p> Manizha Naderi <br/> Executive Director, Women for Afghan Women</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/464509/letter_from_kabul">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UnzRpmk3rbFMpOojohNi4dQLoWg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UnzRpmk3rbFMpOojohNi4dQLoWg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UnzRpmk3rbFMpOojohNi4dQLoWg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/UnzRpmk3rbFMpOojohNi4dQLoWg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/fp---4xOVD0" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-08-19T17:31:18-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=464509 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/464509/letter_from_kabul http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/aIt6itHQKCs/perils_of_the_poetry_reading http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/464502/perils_of_the_poetry_reading <p> Am I the only person who finds it hard to follow an unfamiliar poem when I hear it read out loud and don't have the text in front of me? Even when reading to myself at my own pace, I might have to go over a poem several times to really get it, but at a reading, the poems whizz by unstoppably-- no chance of a second hearing, and all the helpful visual cues of print , like punctuation, italics, quotation marks, and even line breaks, are absent. A stray thought enters my head -- I wonder why they painted this room turquoise? -- and in seconds I've lost the thread. (I'm speaking of what you might call "literary poetry" here, poetry written primarily to be read silently, not spoken word, which is intended for the ear from the outset.) <p> I often find that the poems I've enjoyed most at a reading seem oddly flat on the page when I hunt them down in a book. What made the poem seem striking and fresh was the poet's performance: the energy and especially the humor was in the voice and manner and gestures, not the words themselves. Or it was the story the poem told: the poetry reading as a series of anecdotes, with the poet placing and embellishing each one in his introductions: My uncle ran a chicken farm in Iowa, and when he ran off with the Methodist minister's wife my aunt killed all the chickens and gave them to the nuns, and out of that comes this next poem, "Saint Rooster and the Holy Choir of Hens." it's been suggested, in fact, that the proliferation of poetry readings, and their importance to a poet's career, has actually changed the way poets -- "literary poets" -- write, encouraging verbal simplicity, talkiness, easy emotions, simple narratives, and punchlines. It's the poet as stand-up comedian/tragedian. <p> Still, you can see why poets would try to shape their art to please their audience -- and notice how we now commonly speak of poetry's audience rather than poetry's readers, which tells you something right there. It can be painful and embarrassing to stand up before a small group of miscellaneous strangers who expect you to entertain them and instead offer poems they might find bewildering, or remote. I've given readings at which I just want to say, oh well, never mind, let's just go have a beer and talk about health care reform. <p> Wislawa Szymborska's "Poetry Reading" (translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh) may be the definitive account of a reading at its awful, humiliating worst. To paraphrase the old Jewish joke about the Catskills hotel ("The food is terrible!" "Yes, and the portions are so small!"), the audience is not only tiny, it's not even listening. And yet, Symborska disperses her pity, her warmth and her satirical humor so evenly among poets and audience members and even the muse, poor thing, that what in lesser hands would be just another complaint about the world's indifference to art becomes a gesture of understanding, forgiveness, love. </p> <p> <p> </p> <p> POETRY READING <p> To be a boxer, or not to be there <br/> at all. O Muse, where are our teeming crowds? <br/> Twelve people in the room, eight seats to spare -- <br/> it's time to start this cultural affair.<br/> Half came inside because it started raining, <br/></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/464502/perils_of_the_poetry_reading">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AivcKMAQSU6DoxcwHIZRNsldGuY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AivcKMAQSU6DoxcwHIZRNsldGuY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AivcKMAQSU6DoxcwHIZRNsldGuY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AivcKMAQSU6DoxcwHIZRNsldGuY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/aIt6itHQKCs" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-08-19T17:06:00-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=464502 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/464502/perils_of_the_poetry_reading http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/QH8tZSdwU4Y/your_questions_about_health_care_reform_answered http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/461264/your_questions_about_health_care_reform_answered <p> Ok, so there's been a lot of misinformation about proposals to reform the health insurance industry and provide (near) universal coverage. Understandable! It's complicated stuff. Herewith, I'll try to answer some questions </p> <p> 1) Is it true that all of the bills currently proposed would end the practice of <a href="http://progressillinois.com/2009/7/29/end-rescission-pass-bill">"rescission,"</a> whereby health insurance providers refuse to treat customers who've paid their premiums simply because they've become ill? </p> <p> No! That's a common misunderstanding. Actually, all of the bills would ban 'incisions', that is, they would legally bar surgeons from performing surgery until a panel of twelve gay illegal immigrant government bureaucrats unanimously signed off on the procedure.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/461264/your_questions_about_health_care_reform_answered">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Toj-GGl1gpBbtBpMWSVs4Nao2DY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Toj-GGl1gpBbtBpMWSVs4Nao2DY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Toj-GGl1gpBbtBpMWSVs4Nao2DY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Toj-GGl1gpBbtBpMWSVs4Nao2DY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/QH8tZSdwU4Y" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-08-11T09:58:26-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=461264 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/461264/your_questions_about_health_care_reform_answered http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_NU7FJaxFDk/readers_real_and_ideal http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/460725/readers_real_and_ideal <p> (I posted this at <a href="http://thebestamericanpoetry.typepad.com/the_best_american_poetry/katha-pollitt/">The Best American Poetry</a> last Friday. I'm going to be blogging there regularly about poetry. I hope you'll take a look.) </p> <p> I love the Gertrude Stein quip David Comiskey posted in response to my last blog: "I write for myself and strangers." that just about covers it, doesn't it? Another reader sent in a different version: "I write for myself and strange people." That's probably just as true. For some more portraits of the reader in one's head, I queried members of WOM-PO, a listserv of mostly poets (both sexes) devoted to discussion of poetry by women. Here are some answers: Emily Dickinson, YOU, "the me which is that feathered thing alive and barnacled on/as my soul," "people who need my words," a friend in Colorado with whom the poet has exchanged a weekly poem for the past 33 (!) years, "my former next-door neighbor, Joan, who didn't go to college, but who is a terrific reader," a longstanding poetry critique group, a local poetry listserv in Sebastopol, CA. Linda Rodriguez says she writes for "a literate, reading person somewhere out there in the world, someone curious who wants to see beneath the surface of life" -- a version of Virginia Woolf's Common Reader -- but others longed to reach people, including their relatives, who didn't read poetry and who might be electrified by something they wrote. "When I find a fifteen year old girl in a small town somewhere that has read a poem and gone on to the library filled with questions," writes Sina Queyras, "Well, that's what it's about for me." If that doesn't happen, don't lose heart. As Kate Bernadette Benedict points out "My internalized reader may not even be born yet!" <p> Mary Oliver agrees with Benedict. "I write poems for a stranger who will be born in some distant country hundreds of years from now," she wrote in "A Poetry Handbook." Of course, Oliver is one of the most popular poets in America right this minute -- it's not like she's waiting for posterity to catch up with her. Billy Collins, the other most popular poet, has a riff on Oliver. It's a funny poem, but I can't decide if he's making fun of her. Is he mocking her somewhat vatic claim on posterity, debunking the idea of posterity as anything special, ruefully deflating the concept of universality, or even comparing Oliver's poetry to a wet dog? What do you think? <p> <p> To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years from Now <br/> <p> 'I write poems for a stranger who will be born in some distant country hundreds of years from now. - Mary Oliver'<br/> </p> <p> Nobody here likes a wet dog.<br/> No one wants anything to do with a dog<br/> that is wet from being out in the rain<br/> or retrieving a stick from a lake.<br/> Look how she wanders around the crowded pub tonight<br/> going from one person to another<br/> hoping for a pat on the head, a rub behind the ears,<br/> something that could be given with one hand<br/> without even wrinkling the conversation.<br/> <p> But everyone pushes her away,<br/> some with a knee, others with the sole of a boot.<br/> Even the children, who don't realize she is wet<br/> until they go to pet her,<br/> push her away<br/> then wipe their hands on their clothes.<br/> And whenever she heads toward me,<br/> I show her my palm, and she turns aside.<br/> <p> O stranger of the future!<br/> O inconceivable being!<br/> whatever the shape of your house,<br/> however you scoot from place to place,<br/> no matter how strange and colorless the clothes you may wear,<br/> I bet nobody there likes a wet dog either.<br/> I bet everyone in your pub,<br/> even the children, pushes her away.<br/></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/460725/readers_real_and_ideal">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DqauVQRVchiYPcG7KDfyO17V_lY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DqauVQRVchiYPcG7KDfyO17V_lY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DqauVQRVchiYPcG7KDfyO17V_lY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DqauVQRVchiYPcG7KDfyO17V_lY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_NU7FJaxFDk" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-08-10T10:25:02-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=460725 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/460725/readers_real_and_ideal http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/8qKGRbsEaUs/healthcare_disinformation_a_case_study http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/459767/healthcare_disinformation_a_case_study <p> Ezra Klein <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/08/health-care_reform_is_popular.html">links</a> to some interesting polling today that shows a (slim) plurality saying Obama's health care reform proposals are a "bad idea," but a strong majority supporting the 'actual content' of the bill when "when the interviewer read an accurate, neutrally phrased description of the main features of the plan." </p> <p> The reason for the difference, of course, is the tremendous amount of lies, distortions and misinformation being thrown up by opponents of reform, the most extreme of which would be funny if they weren't so macabre: the government is going kill off the elderly! They'll mandate you give up your organs when you turn 67! You'll have to pay for gay married couples' abortions! </p> <p> I recently got to see first-hand how this happens. A few weeks ago I was on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wto0LemdHDg">Al Jazeera English</a> debating health care reform with a conservative named <a href="http://joshuatrevino.com/">Josh Trevino</a>. Josh was a nice enough guy, genuine and polite, if extremely conservative. We went back and forth about the degree to which the current system is broken, whether healthcare is a right, and why it is that the US spends so much more <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2009/04/lack_of_universal_health_care.php">per capita on healthcare than any other industrialized nation</a>. When I noted that this year the US will spends more than 17% of GDP on healthcare, Josh shot back with a pretty amazing statistic. He said that, sure we spend a lot on healthcare, but 5.6% of GDP, or a third of all healthcare spending, is spent on pharmaceutical research. That's way more than any other country he said, and in fact, our research dollars find the drugs the rest of the world uses. If you take away all that high-minded spending on research, then US healthcare costs are totally in line with the rest of the world.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/459767/healthcare_disinformation_a_case_study">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gHwyMkgNiH4QtoYqxcUadMJzdXU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gHwyMkgNiH4QtoYqxcUadMJzdXU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gHwyMkgNiH4QtoYqxcUadMJzdXU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/gHwyMkgNiH4QtoYqxcUadMJzdXU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/8qKGRbsEaUs" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-08-06T14:13:54-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=459767 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/459767/healthcare_disinformation_a_case_study http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/RhTES2-sw08/how_the_tea_baggers_are_like_act_up http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/459372/how_the_tea_baggers_are_like_act_up <p> There's been some very interesting back and forth about the right-wing disruptions of health care town halls in the Twitterverse and Blogosphere (oh God, did I just type those two words back-to-back?). One of the fascinating aspects of a political culture in which governmental control has flipped, in a relatively short period of time, from the right to the left, is that each side now finds itself making arguments the other side was making only a little while earlier. The Left accused (rightly!) Bush of using fear-mongering to push the nation into pre-emptive war. During the stimulus debate, the Right turned around and <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/03/16/obamas-fearmongering-damaged-economy/">used the same talking points</a>, accusing Obama of using fear-mongering to push through $770 bn in public spending. </p> <p> I don't want to create a false equivalence here. There are very real differences between the rhetoric and approach of left and right, but it's certainly the case that we often use formal arguments (so and so is fear-mongering) as a way to widen the possible appeal for our substantive, ideological pre-commitments. In the case of the Iraq war, it was a terrible idea no matter how it was sold, and I think the right-wing would say the same about the stimulus. </p> <p> I'm on a team in American politics: I'm proudly, vigorously on the left. So there's no need to bend over backwards to be formally consistent. That said, intellectual honesty requires one to separate out one's formal objections from substantive ones and I've been given pause by the remarks of some right-wing activists like <a href="http://twitter.com/JonHenke">Jon Henke</a>. He and others have been saying: wait a sec, when the left shows up and makes noise somewhere it's activism, but when the right does it it's thuggery and mob rule? </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/459372/how_the_tea_baggers_are_like_act_up">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qoOZ8hxiIFVz6NE-P5Uv6Uqc6EA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qoOZ8hxiIFVz6NE-P5Uv6Uqc6EA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qoOZ8hxiIFVz6NE-P5Uv6Uqc6EA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qoOZ8hxiIFVz6NE-P5Uv6Uqc6EA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/RhTES2-sw08" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-08-05T12:58:08-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=459372 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/459372/how_the_tea_baggers_are_like_act_up http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/ry-Tfcpm1w4/if_we_want_health_care_we_have_to_fight_for_it http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/458792/if_we_want_health_care_we_have_to_fight_for_it <p> I come from a family of organizers (my dad and my brother), so I'm intimately familiar with just how much work good organizing is. I also have a lot of guilt about the fact I'm not one. As hard as writing can sometimes be, it's orders of magnitudes easier (not to mention confers a lot more recognition and praise) than the unglamorous job of calling through lists, finding suitable meeting places, negotiating personalities, motivating busy and harried volunteers, etc... </p> <p> For that reason, I'm always reluctant to use my writing platform to urge other people to organize. It feels cheap and easy. But with that disclaimed out of the way, I have to echo what Josh Marshall says <a href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/08/and_for_the_blue_team.php?ref=fpblg">here</a>. </p> <p> If you want health care, then do something about it. We are now in the middle of a fight. Fights are good. Democracy is fundamentally about the non-violent resolution of conflict, and we've got conflict. There is a small but very mobilized constituency of people and interests that want to kill health care reform. They have the advantage of being on the attack, or tearing down and criticizing and expressing their outrage. The job of advocates of reform is trickier, but unless there is a mobilization and concerted organized attempt to push elected representatives in a progressive direction they will succumb to the braying and bullying of tea-baggers. Find out if your congressman is having a town hall, and go. Find others to go with you. Let them know you will punish them if they don't support real reform. Call their offices. Show up at their offices. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/458792/if_we_want_health_care_we_have_to_fight_for_it">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cO2KPUwisTKomQsRpltC16GcOQI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cO2KPUwisTKomQsRpltC16GcOQI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cO2KPUwisTKomQsRpltC16GcOQI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cO2KPUwisTKomQsRpltC16GcOQI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ry-Tfcpm1w4" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-08-04T08:55:27-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=458792 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/458792/if_we_want_health_care_we_have_to_fight_for_it http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_aCSeti08mA/this_week_on_the_hill http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/458320/this_week_on_the_hill <p> <blockquote>The House has already hit the road -- gone until September -- so the Senate has the joint to itself. I asked one Senate staffer what the rationale is behind the House taking off a week earlier? </p> <p> "What is this thing you call a ‘rationale?'" he replied. </p> <p> The Senate will vote to confirm Sonia Sotomayor -- the only mystery there is how many deadbeat Republican votes she will pick up along the way.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/458320/this_week_on_the_hill">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lSktmxBikQYUHfsWoZVZqVlbYj4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lSktmxBikQYUHfsWoZVZqVlbYj4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lSktmxBikQYUHfsWoZVZqVlbYj4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lSktmxBikQYUHfsWoZVZqVlbYj4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_aCSeti08mA" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-08-03T08:45:46-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=458320 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/458320/this_week_on_the_hill