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/_aCHYwDWhls/george_will_ful_blushes http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502603/george_will_ful_blushes <p> Ever since Barack Obama's inauguration, progressives have been able to point to one segment of the traditional media that consistently bears witness to the depth of change implied by the Democratic landslide: the chastened demeanor of George Will on ABC's 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos'. Particularly obvious whenever Nobel Prize-winning economist and 'New York Times' columnist Paul Krugman is on hand to call Will on his donnish prevarications, the change has nonetheless been unmistakable over time and provided the show's real "Sunday Funnies" for lots of us, as this clip from Stephen Colbert last month makes clear: </p> <p> <table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com'>The Colbert Report</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/252734/october-26-2009/george-will-s-long-tie'>George Will's Long Tie</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/'>www.colbertnation.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:252734' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes'>Colbert Report Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com'>Political Humor</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/254015/november-02-2009/sport-report---nyc-marathon---olympic-speedskating'>U.S. Speedskating</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table> </p> <p> Of course, chipping away at Will's certitude is intrinsically funny because of his magisterial, always unsmiling manner--it's like teasing a pinched and grumpy-looking hedgehog with a sharp stick. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502603/george_will_ful_blushes">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FK9swIGkNv8IOhieGJv0E1tcwmY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FK9swIGkNv8IOhieGJv0E1tcwmY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FK9swIGkNv8IOhieGJv0E1tcwmY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FK9swIGkNv8IOhieGJv0E1tcwmY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_aCHYwDWhls" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-12-02T15:25:41-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=502603 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502603/george_will_ful_blushes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/owYeTmst5SM/in_a_big_issue_week_joblessness_remains_the_biggest_issue http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/502331/in_a_big_issue_week_joblessness_remains_the_biggest_issue <p> The <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/34224170">official unemployment rate of 10.2 percent</a> is the worst in a quarter century. </p> <p> The <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/34040009">real unemployment rate of 17.5 percent</a> -- the Department of Labor figure that includes the long-term unemployed and the seriously under-employed -- is edging toward <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression">Depression-era levels.</a> </p> <p> In several regions of the United States -- Michigan, parts of Ohio and Indiana, stretches of New England and the rural south, historically depressed urban areas -- the jobless figures are so acute that they have become the definitional social, economic and political concern.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/502331/in_a_big_issue_week_joblessness_remains_the_biggest_issue">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDIW8mlIDTyZADM649TDfodcedY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDIW8mlIDTyZADM649TDfodcedY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDIW8mlIDTyZADM649TDfodcedY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDIW8mlIDTyZADM649TDfodcedY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/owYeTmst5SM" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-12-02T11:05:00-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=502331 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/502331/in_a_big_issue_week_joblessness_remains_the_biggest_issue http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/tFTu5qGA0Jk/exit_2011 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/502355/exit_2011 <p> Is he lying to us? When President Obama talks about withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan in July, 2011, does he mean it? Or is that a clever ruse in order to blunt criticism from the left, and from congressional Democrats, of his decision to escalate the war? </p> <p> Personally, I'm willing to take him at his word. Why? Because Obama is doing in Afghanistan exactly what he said he'd do during the campaign, after his election, and after taking office. And I don't think he's doing it primarily for political reasons, either. Having had lengthy discussions with many, perhaps most, of Obama's advisers on Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past two years, it's clear to me that those adivsers believe passionately that vital US interests are at stake in that conflict. It's no surprise that they've convinced Obama, too. </p> <p> That's not to say that Obama, before last night's speech, wasn't under intense political pressure to jack up the war. The generals, especially David Petraeus, the Centcom commander, and Stanley McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan, made no bones about what they wanted, and it was clear that Petraeus and McChrystal weren't shy about making common cause with the Republicans and the neoconservatives. And plenty of hawkish Democrats, including the ever-reliable Representative Ike Skelton, felt the same way. It's tempting to argue that Obama could have faced all of them down had he decided to draw down US forces, but that he lacked the political courage. After reviewing all of the evidence, I don't agree that the president was acting out of a lack of courage. I think that his decision to surge US forces in Afghanistan reflects a mature, considered decision on his part to do what he thinks is the right thing. (Unfortunately, it's wrong.)</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/502355/exit_2011">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZT9WglM004AFUWr1x12IPRWCXSs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZT9WglM004AFUWr1x12IPRWCXSs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZT9WglM004AFUWr1x12IPRWCXSs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZT9WglM004AFUWr1x12IPRWCXSs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/tFTu5qGA0Jk" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-12-02T09:40:07-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=502355 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/502355/exit_2011 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/UsRQbKh2Pns/obama_has_spoken_now_let_s_have_a_debate http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/502232/obama_has_spoken_now_let_s_have_a_debate <p> President Obama delivered <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/01/obama.afghanistan/index.html">a carefully-constructed and nuanced call Tuesday night for the extension of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.</a> Obama came to the wrong conclusion about a military adventure that should be coming to a conclusion, rather than ramping up. But Obama's attempt to find a middle ground between anti-war forces and supporters of a Iraq-style occupation at least recognized that the debate over Afghanistan has many sides and many players. </p> <p> At times, Obama seemed so tortured in his attempt to placate both those who want to send more troops (he's dispatching an additional 30,000) and those who want a bring-the-troops-home exit strategy (he says they will start coming home in 2011) that his speech had the ring of Greek tragedy – or, perhaps, "fall of the Roman Empire" history. </p> <p> Unfortunately, there has been nothing artful about the media coverage of Obama's speech.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/502232/obama_has_spoken_now_let_s_have_a_debate">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HyUhk1yiUw9GW_D8SMSGPqiI6ZI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HyUhk1yiUw9GW_D8SMSGPqiI6ZI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HyUhk1yiUw9GW_D8SMSGPqiI6ZI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HyUhk1yiUw9GW_D8SMSGPqiI6ZI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/UsRQbKh2Pns" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-12-01T22:49:48-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=502232 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/502232/obama_has_spoken_now_let_s_have_a_debate http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/iwvKMok29Fk/psalm_137 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502243/psalm_137 <p> I was in a pew at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, on September 16, 2001. Although I was never a member of this now infamous congregation, <a href="http://www.theroot.com/views/our-jeremiah">I did attend Trinity regularly </a>during the seven years I lived and worked in Chicago. </p> <p> September 16, 2001 was the first Sunday after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. On that Sunday Reverend Jeremiah Wright preached a sermon whose often-distorted excerpts became fodder for attack on candidate Barack Obama. Most people in America remember it as the "Chickens Coming Home to Roost" sermon. </p> <p> For me, Wright's sermon on that Sunday will always be the sermon of <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+137&amp;version=NIV">Psalm 137.</a></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502243/psalm_137">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6cSGFXLDULf6apd56SXetOVZ0gw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6cSGFXLDULf6apd56SXetOVZ0gw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6cSGFXLDULf6apd56SXetOVZ0gw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6cSGFXLDULf6apd56SXetOVZ0gw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/iwvKMok29Fk" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-12-01T21:47:54-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=502243 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502243/psalm_137 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/1__SxpbRiUM/from_grant_park_to_afghanistan_obama_s_defining_moment http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502234/from_grant_park_to_afghanistan_obama_s_defining_moment <p> When Barack Obama gave his victory speech on election night last November, he picked Chicago's Grant Park – the legendary site of the battle between anti-war demonstrators and Chicago cops during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. According to campaign manager David Axelrod, Obama chose Grant Park to "symbolically overcome the damage done to American idealism forty years before." </p> <p> In 1968, Grant Park had dramatized the fratricidal split between Democrats over Vietnam. On the night of Nov. 4, 2008, Obama was suggesting all that had come to an end. The party was united and victorious. </p> <p> But Obama's speech tonight at West Point, announcing the escalation of the American war in Afghanistan, raised anew the specter of Grant Park in 1968. Once again a Democratic president is making a deeper commitment to an unwinnable war. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502234/from_grant_park_to_afghanistan_obama_s_defining_moment">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A-7La7u7CFwpVz9bqY_s2RTg3Wc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A-7La7u7CFwpVz9bqY_s2RTg3Wc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A-7La7u7CFwpVz9bqY_s2RTg3Wc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/A-7La7u7CFwpVz9bqY_s2RTg3Wc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/1__SxpbRiUM" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-12-01T20:56:24-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=502234 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502234/from_grant_park_to_afghanistan_obama_s_defining_moment http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/ddAK7eJQMQQ/not_just_jobs_needed_now http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502134/not_just_jobs_needed_now <p> In advance of the president's jobs summit, economist Paul Krugman is finally calling for government job-creation. </p> <p> "It's time for at least a small-scale version of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration" <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/opinion/30krugman.html?_r=1" target="_blank">writes Krugman</a>. He says it "would offer relatively low-paying (but much better than nothing) public-service employment." </p> <p> That's probably not what the Obama administration has in mind. They and Congress seem set instead on relying on the private sector and re-asserting Democrats' fiscal conservative bona fides before next year's vote.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502134/not_just_jobs_needed_now">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/orCy5-4XCSB8HsxVfDdEnOTXaok/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/orCy5-4XCSB8HsxVfDdEnOTXaok/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/orCy5-4XCSB8HsxVfDdEnOTXaok/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/orCy5-4XCSB8HsxVfDdEnOTXaok/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ddAK7eJQMQQ" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-12-01T17:15:40-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=502134 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/502134/not_just_jobs_needed_now http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Q_xBmvnxrwI/escalation_equals_insecurity http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/501965/escalation_equals_insecurity <p> White House officials announced yesterday that President Obama has decided to deploy <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8388939.stm">30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan</a> within the next six months, nearly tripling the American military presence in Afghanistan that the president inherited when he took office. Obama will explain his decision in a much-hyped address at West Point tonight. </p> <p> This seems crazy to me. Can't see how it can possibly end well. To cite Malalai Joya, the youngest woman elected to the Afghan Parliament , <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/nov/30/obama-afghanistan-troops">writing recently</a> in 'The Guardian', "by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/25/afghanistan-occupation-taliban-warlords">installing warlords and drug traffickers in power in Kabul</a>, the US and Nato have pushed us from the frying pan to the fire. Now Obama is pouring fuel on these flames, and this week's announcement of upwards of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan will have tragic consequences." </p> <p> If you agree with Joya, as I do, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/481827/end_the_war">there are a range of groups trying to build peace and security in Afghanistan. </a>. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/501965/escalation_equals_insecurity">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wD9GO8gk7Y93hYpNMi0kznOGk4Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wD9GO8gk7Y93hYpNMi0kznOGk4Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wD9GO8gk7Y93hYpNMi0kznOGk4Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wD9GO8gk7Y93hYpNMi0kznOGk4Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Q_xBmvnxrwI" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-12-01T10:35:57-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=501965 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/501965/escalation_equals_insecurity http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Zc4SpVJf9tI/democrats_campaign_against_obama_s_afghan_plan http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501948/democrats_campaign_against_obama_s_afghan_plan <p> Even before President Obama formally announces his plan to surge more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops into Afghanistan, Democrats who want to win elections are campaigning against it. </p> <p> The next big election for Democrats is the Massachusetts primary organized to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy. </p> <p> The leading candidates in next Tuesday's primary are scrambling to appeal to the party's base voters in a state that gave overwhelming support to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501948/democrats_campaign_against_obama_s_afghan_plan">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iIxm-JoduYRqeVbM1picOMjMiUY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iIxm-JoduYRqeVbM1picOMjMiUY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iIxm-JoduYRqeVbM1picOMjMiUY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iIxm-JoduYRqeVbM1picOMjMiUY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Zc4SpVJf9tI" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-12-01T09:46:50-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=501948 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501948/democrats_campaign_against_obama_s_afghan_plan http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/ihVj_GNnWNE/military_escalation_will_harm_afghan_people_us_interests http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501535/military_escalation_will_harm_afghan_people_us_interests <p> '"I know that Obama's election has brought great hopes to peace-loving people in the United States. But for Afghans, Obama's military buildup will only bring more suffering and death to innocent civilians..." </p> <p> -- Afghan parliamentarian Malalai Joya' </p> <p> The only humane and proper response to the mess in Afghanistan is the rapid withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from that country.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501535/military_escalation_will_harm_afghan_people_us_interests">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/e37mPvqNtTf_dRE-7YX5eOtg9yw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/e37mPvqNtTf_dRE-7YX5eOtg9yw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/e37mPvqNtTf_dRE-7YX5eOtg9yw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/e37mPvqNtTf_dRE-7YX5eOtg9yw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ihVj_GNnWNE" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-12-01T09:35:07-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=501535 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501535/military_escalation_will_harm_afghan_people_us_interests http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/4PeOl6k6f9g/needed_new_national_security_thinking http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/501905/needed_new_national_security_thinking <p> <p> Tonight President Obama will announce his new Afghanistan policy. By all accounts it will be one of military escalation. This is a tragic moment--both for the nation and his presidency--and <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/394953">it is one I had hoped</a> the President would avoid by courageously leading us in a wiser direction, one that views 21st century challenges anew, in fresh and necessary ways. </p> </p> <p> <p> It is true that Obama would have needed real political courage to extricate himself from his predecessor's war. He would have faced toxic blowback from a military and media establishment poised to attack. But in a war-weary nation, amidst great economic trouble, he could have used his great oratorical and political skills to marshal people of all kinds to his side. </p> </p> <p> <p> Instead, with this escalation, we see the continuing grip of the National Security State--whose premises have been shared by the conservative and liberal hawks for close to 60 years, and which essentially remain unchallenged among the establishment and the mainstream media. Obama will now be held hostage to this mindset as a war bequeathed to him by a reckless and destructive administration becomes his own war. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/501905/needed_new_national_security_thinking">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Nj4sagLjDgFsQB7XooBRHEGfS0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Nj4sagLjDgFsQB7XooBRHEGfS0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Nj4sagLjDgFsQB7XooBRHEGfS0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Nj4sagLjDgFsQB7XooBRHEGfS0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/4PeOl6k6f9g" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-30T23:21:56-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=501905 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/501905/needed_new_national_security_thinking http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/9sGQYyJxiG8/ten_years_after_battle_of_seattle_another_world_is_necessary http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501670/ten_years_after_battle_of_seattle_another_world_is_necessary <p> Tens years to the day after <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/19991227/editors">"The Battle of Seattle"</a> opened a new front in the epic struggle over global economic policy, one of the activists who took to the streets with the the forces of civil society (labor, farm, environmental, consumer and human rights groups) to protest the World Trade Organization's bias on behalf of multinational corporations has proposed a radical shift in the approach of the United States to international trade. </p> <p> There was no tear gas in the air Monday. </p> <p> But <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061002/nichols2">Sherrod Brown</a> was bringing the message of the Seattle activists to Washington.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501670/ten_years_after_battle_of_seattle_another_world_is_necessary">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rGyNmUJ5AmQn0XIJ7ixgl3nyEe0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rGyNmUJ5AmQn0XIJ7ixgl3nyEe0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rGyNmUJ5AmQn0XIJ7ixgl3nyEe0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rGyNmUJ5AmQn0XIJ7ixgl3nyEe0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/9sGQYyJxiG8" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-30T14:09:20-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=501670 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501670/ten_years_after_battle_of_seattle_another_world_is_necessary http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/o0a6UsqltFg/day_of_action_on_climate_crisis http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/501681/day_of_action_on_climate_crisis <p> As world leaders start gathering next week in <a href="http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/about/what-is-cop15/">Copenhagen</a>, the people hit hardest by the climate change crisis -- the global poor -- will continue to be systematically excluded from formal discussions of how to address problems like water shortages and crop failures stemming from global warming. </p> <p> Meanwhile, the world's major corporations have been dominating international and domestic climate policy -- as they did in the international trade policy arena. Carbon-trading and carbon offset projects have already allowed these polluters to avoid cutting emissions and to expand their markets into poor countries, accelerating corporate take-over of the world's resources at the expense of local and indigenous communities. </p> <p> Whatever happens among the officials gathered in Copenhagen, where 192 nations will come together to try to negotiate a new international climate treaty, <a href="http://www.grist.org/topic/copenhagen-climate-talks">climate activists are using the occasion to explore new directions</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/501681/day_of_action_on_climate_crisis">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2p5_yPwQR8XdS-ndeDLbpmgqAYQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2p5_yPwQR8XdS-ndeDLbpmgqAYQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2p5_yPwQR8XdS-ndeDLbpmgqAYQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2p5_yPwQR8XdS-ndeDLbpmgqAYQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/o0a6UsqltFg" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-30T10:48:32-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=501681 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/501681/day_of_action_on_climate_crisis http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/0M4y-3BDXxo/feint_to_exit http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/501647/feint_to_exit <p> What's tragic about President Obama's decision to dispatch tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan is that even the president knows, I am sure, that escalation won't work. But the president is playing it safe, adding forces while broadly describing a medium-term exit strategy. Rather than throw the tank into reverse, the ever-cautious, politically careful Obama is executing a long, drawn-out, 180-degree turn that will probably take two or three years to execute. </p> <p> Contrary to some analysts on the left who see Obama's plan as a Vietnam-style escalation, I see it as an unfortunate escalation feint while looking to the exit. Unfortunate, because a lot of Afghans (and quite a few Americans) will die in the process. </p> <p> Briefed in advance about Obama's Tuesday night address, the 'New York Times' <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/world/asia/30policy.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=print">reports today</a>:</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/501647/feint_to_exit">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yMmAPa1HgPTVq7_U0Yt9B-gEcfE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yMmAPa1HgPTVq7_U0Yt9B-gEcfE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yMmAPa1HgPTVq7_U0Yt9B-gEcfE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yMmAPa1HgPTVq7_U0Yt9B-gEcfE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/0M4y-3BDXxo" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-30T04:25:04-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=501647 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/501647/feint_to_exit http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/xEisoq58Pnw/around_the_nation http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/501461/around_the_nation <p> <p> Jeremy Scahill's <a href]"http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/scahill">important investigation</a> into how Blackwater is working in Pakistan for the US military's Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) made waves all over the world. From a base in Karachi, an elite division of the private security contractor plans targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives. According to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus and a former senior executive at Blackwater, the company's operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and hep run a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes. </p> </p> <p> <p> According to Scahill's sources, Blackwater's Pakistan JSOC contracts are secret and are therefore shielded from public oversight. </p> </p> <p> <p> Scahill's piece was widely-reported in the Middle East; our most-trafficked piece of the month; and drew coverage everywhere from ABCNews.com and HuffingtonPost to MSNBC (<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091214/scahill_video">see Scahill's interview on 'Morning Joe' here</a>) and Pakistani television. At the Pentagon? Not so much. <a href="http://rebelreports.com/post/257191691/why-is-the-state-department-speaking-for-jsoc">As Scahill reports here</a>, the Department of Defense referred the question to the State Department (even though it concerns operations under their jurisdiction). General Stanley McChrystal, the top US Commander in Afghanistan, was the head of JSOC from 2003-2008. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/501461/around_the_nation">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qwfePSnnt_0WZSAIprQXKOu6gPU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qwfePSnnt_0WZSAIprQXKOu6gPU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qwfePSnnt_0WZSAIprQXKOu6gPU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qwfePSnnt_0WZSAIprQXKOu6gPU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/xEisoq58Pnw" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-29T11:13:18-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=501461 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/501461/around_the_nation http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/l8Os-ElTm8M/sanders_stands_on_principle_no_reform_w_out_public_option http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501008/sanders_stands_on_principle_no_reform_w_out_public_option <p> If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to get the 60 votes he will need to break a Republican filibuster and pass a health care reform bill, he's going to have to include a robust public insurance option. </p> <p> Without that basic protection for consumers and taxpayers, Reid will lose the vote of Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats but has made no secret of his frustration with attempts to dumb down reform. </p> <p> "I strongly suspect that there are number of senators, including myself, who would not support final passage without a strong public option," <a href="http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=b5dab2a4-4aa1-43d6-adc2-9f72a22d939f">says Sanders,</a> who supports development of a single-payer "Medicare for All" system but has indicated he would accept a milder reform if it controls against insurance-industry profiteering.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501008/sanders_stands_on_principle_no_reform_w_out_public_option">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FOR_FGMIHVKQcpTW5_68_CB2d8Y/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FOR_FGMIHVKQcpTW5_68_CB2d8Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FOR_FGMIHVKQcpTW5_68_CB2d8Y/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FOR_FGMIHVKQcpTW5_68_CB2d8Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/l8Os-ElTm8M" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-27T17:53:08-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=501008 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/501008/sanders_stands_on_principle_no_reform_w_out_public_option http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/4IGZ6vIAgRk/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/501060/slacker_friday <p> <p> CHARLES PIERCE </p> </p> <p> <p> NEWTON, MA. </p> <p>Hey Doc:</p> <p>"Turkey in the straw/Turkey in the straw/Roll 'em up and twist 'em up/A high tuck a-haw."</p> <p>Short Takes:</p> <p>Part The First: Because it's the week that it is, and because she simply will not go away and leave me and English syntax alone, I thought, well, hell, why not bring back the greatest live shot in the history of American POLITICS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJd_vm9VhpU). And, the best scene in the history of your buddy Sorkin's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_LLNp4E1HI">PROGRAM</a>.</p> <p>Part The Second: <a href="http://deadspin.com/5412329/ex+knick-finds-out-that-crack-can-kill ">THE</a> saddest story of the week. If you don't know why, you weren't at Marquette University in the 1970's. My god, we had fun. Be well, Dream.</p> <p> </p> <p>Part The Third: Here's a Fun Holiday Game. Please count up the number of far-too-obvious straight lines contained in this single blog <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q= YTA2OTJkYjY3MGQwNzUyOGZiOWE1OGU3ZjIyZTI4YTc=">POST</a>. Sometimes, the fish are too big and the barrel is too small.</p> <p> </p> <p>Part The Fourth: The Youthful Quota Hire goes unicorn <a href="http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/can-a-wonk-win/"> HUNTING</a>. Sorry, lad.</p> <p> You have attached yourself to the Party Of Stupid, and it is the Party Of Stupid because you and it have been produced by the Movement Of Stupid. (There's this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Idiot-America-Stupidity-Became-Virtue/dp/ 0767926145/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1259165702&amp;sr=8-1" >BOOK</a> that explains how this happened. Ask Santa for it.) Also, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/16/afp-paul-ryan/">PAUL RYAN</a>, has been known to play to The Stupid. People laugh at him, too. You really gotta get out more.</p> <p>Part The Penultimate: Apropos of last week's visit to Doc's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/499212/slacker_friday"> JOINT</a>, I present the Gobsmack Of The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/25/perino-no-terrorist- attac_n_370393.html">WEEK</a>. Nice hire, fellas. Really.</p> </p> <p> <p>Part The Ultimate: It is early days, surely, but, at the moment, there is absolutely no way on god's earth that I would vote to re-elect Barack Obama as President of the United States. I always had my <a href="http://www.esquire.com/features/barack-obama-0608?click=main_sr"> DOUBTS</a>. But I was willing to ride the train in order to keep the government out of the hands of a bunch of undereducated paranoid lunatics, which I didn't see as very high a bar, truth be told. I do not underestimate the size of the problems he was handed last January with two badly run wars and one badly run economy. But, all Lilly Ledbetters aside, it is becoming increasingly plain that the man is not up to the most important job he was elected to do--which is to wring the accumulated viciousness, ignorance, and hackery of the past eight years out of the various parts of the United States government--and to do it brutally, if necessary, which it is. One of our two major political parties has completely lost its mind. This should be a political issue. It is incumbent upon the other party to eliminate that party's influence until it purges itself and comes to its senses again. It also scarcely needs to be said that the sane party has to watch its own ranks for people who seem to be enabling and abetting the goals of the crazy party. Otherwise, as Ezra Klein memorably put it this week, every attempt at bipartisanship winds up as "a hostage negotiation." President Obama--and does anyone but me notice that he gets the honorific conspicuously less often on TV than the last guy did?-- ot only seems unequal to this task, he doesn't even seem to recognize the task at all. He wasn't elected to change the tone, dammit. He was elected to change everything because everything needed to be changed. So it's a hard goddamn job. So what? He didn't know this coming in? Now we're going to feed 34,000 more American kids into the meat grinder in Afghanistan because we're America and we can do anything we set our minds to? Hell, we can't even keep our own citizens alive by breaking the power of the health-insurance industry. We can't right our economy because it's still in the hands of Wall Street grifters, and the government has fallen into the thrall of a bunch of banker-morons I wouldn't trust with a potato gun. Some people needed to be crushed politically. Some people needed to go to jail. Some people needed to be exiled forever from the serious business of self-government. It's Black Friday, and I'm shopping for another candidate. I'm beating the rush. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/501060/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0lrVkDvBYQQe_bL-9ODvtbv0seg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0lrVkDvBYQQe_bL-9ODvtbv0seg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0lrVkDvBYQQe_bL-9ODvtbv0seg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0lrVkDvBYQQe_bL-9ODvtbv0seg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/4IGZ6vIAgRk" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-11-27T13:15:16-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=501060 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/501060/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/ZzNSePezHS4/another_helping_of_fdr_please http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500820/another_helping_of_fdr_please <p> President Obama has produced a credible, if not exactly inspired <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-thanksgiving-day">Thanksgiving Proclamation</a>. </p> <p> Most of the statement relies on the usual boilerplate language employed by our recent presidents, although Obama's message is a bit more anthropological than those of his predecessors – referring to the first Thanksgiving as "a harvest celebration between European settlers and indigenous communities." </p> <p> The president also tosses in some universalism: "As Americans, we hail from every part of the world. While we observe traditions from every culture, Thanksgiving Day is a unique national tradition we all share. Its spirit binds us together as one people, each of us thankful for our common blessings."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500820/another_helping_of_fdr_please">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-toS5CyAsp_mZN679nmGVKoiMiU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-toS5CyAsp_mZN679nmGVKoiMiU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-toS5CyAsp_mZN679nmGVKoiMiU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-toS5CyAsp_mZN679nmGVKoiMiU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ZzNSePezHS4" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-26T00:24:37-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=500820 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500820/another_helping_of_fdr_please http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/SoKiZkrQBZA/filibuster_follies http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/500559/filibuster_follies <p> <p> With 35 million people uninsured, and Big Insurance on the verge of receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies through health care reform, the idea that a Blanche Lincoln, Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson or Mary Landrieu could sabotage a public option should be a wakeup call to all of us as to the dysfunctionality of our Senate. </p> </p> <p> <p> Of course, the reason conservative members of the Democratic Caucus are able to wield such power is the anti-democratic, not constitutionally-mandated filibuster, which requires a super-majority of 60 Senators to pass legislation. </p> </p> <p> <p> That's why so many pro-democracy folks are <a href="http://action.firedoglake.com/reconciliation">urging</a> Majority Leader Harry Reid to use the procedural process of "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/SenatorSanders#p/u/53/wWCK8uqsZFY"> reconciliation</a>" to pass a public option if they can't muster 60 votes. Reconciliation allows for a simple majority of 51 Senators to approve certain budgetary matters. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/500559/filibuster_follies">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I5hCaO31R2cKpYOiXGaCVDGH24A/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I5hCaO31R2cKpYOiXGaCVDGH24A/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I5hCaO31R2cKpYOiXGaCVDGH24A/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/I5hCaO31R2cKpYOiXGaCVDGH24A/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/SoKiZkrQBZA" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-25T10:13:53-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=500559 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/500559/filibuster_follies http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/NAKNtSNwWCM/obama_s_finish_the_job_talk_sets_stage_for_afghan_troop_surge http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500486/obama_s_finish_the_job_talk_sets_stage_for_afghan_troop_surge <p> President Obama plans to formally announce on December 1 his decision with regard to the request from some of his more ambitious generals for a massive troop surge in Afghanistan. </p> <p> But indications are that the president who was elected to set a new course for the nation when it comes to foreign policy will instead "stay the course" set by his quagmire-prone predecessor. </p> <p> Obama announced Tuesday that he plans to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/asia/25rollout.html">"finish the job" in Afghanistan,</a> and there is a growing consensus that he will agree to dispatch roughly 34,000 U.S. troops to the country.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500486/obama_s_finish_the_job_talk_sets_stage_for_afghan_troop_surge">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nsHmOSTZLf3Z6kFw_sByAWjqOFg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nsHmOSTZLf3Z6kFw_sByAWjqOFg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nsHmOSTZLf3Z6kFw_sByAWjqOFg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nsHmOSTZLf3Z6kFw_sByAWjqOFg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/NAKNtSNwWCM" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-24T22:45:23-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=500486 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500486/obama_s_finish_the_job_talk_sets_stage_for_afghan_troop_surge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/iPDkVKYnEP8/bad_black_mothers http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/500468/bad_black_mothers <p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ouPoNevcJ1I/SwyPLSpIbNI/AAAAAAAAAbI/lV3NrSOwwQQ/s1600/monique.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 364px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ouPoNevcJ1I/SwyPLSpIbNI/AAAAAAAAAbI/lV3NrSOwwQQ/s400/monique.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407854676710812882" /></a> Bad black mothers are everywhere these days. </p> <p> With Michelle Obama in the White House, consciously and conspicuously serving as <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/432957/michelle_obama_mom_in_chief">mom-in-chief</a>, I expected (even somewhat dreaded) a resurgence of Claire Huxtable images of black motherhood: effortless glamour, professional success, measured wit, firm guidance, loving partnership, and the calm reassurance that American women can, in fact, have it all. </p> <p> Instead the news is currently dominated by horrifying images of African American mothers.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/500468/bad_black_mothers">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uKY0875fyln5dUbMOF9QZs5RziA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uKY0875fyln5dUbMOF9QZs5RziA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uKY0875fyln5dUbMOF9QZs5RziA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uKY0875fyln5dUbMOF9QZs5RziA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/iPDkVKYnEP8" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-24T19:59:28-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=500468 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/500468/bad_black_mothers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/ytHvSOOGoGo/reagan_would_fail_purity_test_proposed_for_gop http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500305/reagan_would_fail_purity_test_proposed_for_gop <p> The most rigidly conservatives members of the Republican National Committee are circulating a proposal to establish a purity test for the party's candidates. </p> <p> If adopted, the party would withhold money from any contender who disagreed with conservative principles on more than two of 10 essential issues identified by the right-wingers. </p> <p> "The problem is that conservatives have lost trust in the Republican Party that we will govern as conservatives," argues James Bopp Jr., an RNC member from Indiana who has spearheaded the purity-test push. "I think that loss of trust is warranted to a certain extent because of the fact that we in the final several years of the Bush administration were supporting increased government, earmarks and, ultimately, bailouts."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500305/reagan_would_fail_purity_test_proposed_for_gop">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mP4NvGoc71VICF_bAt2xWSgqs0U/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mP4NvGoc71VICF_bAt2xWSgqs0U/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mP4NvGoc71VICF_bAt2xWSgqs0U/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mP4NvGoc71VICF_bAt2xWSgqs0U/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ytHvSOOGoGo" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-24T13:19:44-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=500305 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/500305/reagan_would_fail_purity_test_proposed_for_gop http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/QC6iRodHc_U/coal_country http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/499894/coal_country <p> Across the country last week thousands of Americans gathered at more than 850 house-parties organized by the Sierra Club to watch a <a href="http://www.coalcountrythemovie.com/">new documentary</a>, 'Coal Country'. </p> <p> I meant to write about the doc last week but better late than never especially as the movie's screenings have been met with intimidation and outright threats of violence in several places, with the unseen hand of big coal working with local officials to try to prevent the movie from being shown. </p> <p> A <a href="http://www.coalcountrythemovie.com/">stunning film</a> that exposes the devastation of mountaintop removal coal mining to the forests, streams, and communities of Appalachia, 'Coal Country' puts the personal stories of residents of the hardscrabble coal towns at the heart of the story -- both working miners whose livelihoods depend on the mines and longtime locals organizing against the devastation of their native preserves. Far from a one-sided polemic, the film is an intimate portrait of the complex issues facing these areas with a keen understanding of the need for jobs, and the relative prosperity that coal brings to areas that desperately need cheap energy.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/499894/coal_country">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VCv5gAV6QrWtJWx2KGevyu7aQIc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VCv5gAV6QrWtJWx2KGevyu7aQIc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VCv5gAV6QrWtJWx2KGevyu7aQIc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VCv5gAV6QrWtJWx2KGevyu7aQIc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/QC6iRodHc_U" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-24T10:52:13-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=499894 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/499894/coal_country http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/0L0zz4hDTC0/a_kingdom_of_bicycles_no_longer http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/500192/a_kingdom_of_bicycles_no_longer <p> BEIJING -- Ambassador Yu Qingtai is China's point man on global warming. As special representative to the climate change talks for China's ministry of foreign affairs, Yu is a forceful advocate for China's view that while his country will do its part, the primary responsibility for fixing the problem rests squarely on the shoulders of the United States and other industrialized countries. And he bristles when reminded that many US experts put on the onus on China's rapidly growing economy and industrial might. </p> <p> "There were those who came to China years ago and described us as a kingdom of bicycles," he says, when I mention some of that criticism. We're sitting in a conference room at the foreign ministry, where Yu has come to be questioned by a small group of journalists invited to Beijing by the Chinese People's Institute for Foreign Affairs. As China modernizes, he says, every Chinese citizen has the right to all of the modern industrial and transportation options enjoyed by, say, Americans – including the right to own a car. "We should not be expected to stay forever as a kingdom of bicycles!" he says. </p> <p> He has a point.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/500192/a_kingdom_of_bicycles_no_longer">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lcDX5DhMPZP03kc65-7LHQkdZFw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lcDX5DhMPZP03kc65-7LHQkdZFw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lcDX5DhMPZP03kc65-7LHQkdZFw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lcDX5DhMPZP03kc65-7LHQkdZFw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/0L0zz4hDTC0" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-24T09:18:03-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=500192 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/500192/a_kingdom_of_bicycles_no_longer http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Kv7gWsoM1UQ/a_blow_to_privatization_in_israel_and_perhaps_beyond http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499878/a_blow_to_privatization_in_israel_and_perhaps_beyond <p> Is there something inherently wrong with entrusting a private company to run a prison? Might this even be unconstitutional? As far as I'm aware, no court in Europe or the United States has entertained this question. When and if one does, there will now be a precedent to cite: a potentially historic 8-1 ruling just handed down by the Supreme Court in Israel that overturned a 2004 Knesset amendment permitting the establishment of such prisons. </p> <p> In an opinion rightly hailed as a "bombshell" in 'Haaretz', Israeli Supreme Court President Dorit Benisch did not deny that privatizing prisons might potentially save money. She simply determined that incarceration infringes on such fundamental liberties that only the state should carry out this function, not least since the alternative is to turn prisoners into a means of extracting profit. "Economic efficiency is not a supreme value, when we are dealing with basic and important rights for which the state has responsibility," ruled Benisch. </p> <p> The ruling is not without its ironies, among them the fact that Israel doesn't actually have a written constitution, only a set of Basic Laws that are supposed to serve as a guideline for legal rulings. There is also the fact that, as Yonatan Preminger noted in this fine <a href="http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__223/incarceration_for_profit">article</a> in the magazine 'Challenge' a year ago, the conditions in Israel's state-run prisons have often been abysmal, with prisoners and security detainees (mainly Palestinians) crowded into cramped, squalid cells bereft of adequate beds and toilet facilities.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499878/a_blow_to_privatization_in_israel_and_perhaps_beyond">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/haY2jXlDnTjA5fwaZ_PxY_TeJjU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/haY2jXlDnTjA5fwaZ_PxY_TeJjU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/haY2jXlDnTjA5fwaZ_PxY_TeJjU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/haY2jXlDnTjA5fwaZ_PxY_TeJjU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Kv7gWsoM1UQ" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-23T09:48:14-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=499878 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499878/a_blow_to_privatization_in_israel_and_perhaps_beyond http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/hD0NSnQi3Tc/can_china_help_on_afghanistan http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/499869/can_china_help_on_afghanistan <p> BEIJING--During President Obama's recent visit to China, he got some advice on Afghanistan from Chinese government officials – and an offer of Chinese assistance toward a negotiated settlement of the war. </p> <p> Yang Wenchang, a retired senior Chinese diplomat who is currently the president of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), told a small group of US journalists that China is willing to cooperate with the United States in finding a way out of the Afghan morass. "The two presidents discussed the issue at length," said Yang, who maintains extensive contacts with US and other Western officials as head of CPIFA. "China will cooperate." </p> <p> However, during a wide-ranging discussion over dinner at an Italian restaurant in Beijing, the former ambassador said that China does not believe that the US and NATO can succeed militarily. "I think Obama should realize from the outset that no outside power can rule Afghanistan. The Russians tried to change the system in Afghanistan for ten years," he said. "Many Americans, especially among the Republicans, want to send more troops. I don't think NATO can succeed."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/499869/can_china_help_on_afghanistan">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mrw7rb2P0FAOSEdH8d_PLb2ELKw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mrw7rb2P0FAOSEdH8d_PLb2ELKw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mrw7rb2P0FAOSEdH8d_PLb2ELKw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Mrw7rb2P0FAOSEdH8d_PLb2ELKw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/hD0NSnQi3Tc" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-23T08:50:02-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=499869 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/499869/can_china_help_on_afghanistan http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/BhMENSshhvI/around_the_nation http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/499707/around_the_nation <p> <p> In <a href="http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/20/what_is_sarah_palins_future_in_american_politics/?ref=c2">his contribution</a> to <a href="http://www.orbooks.com/">'Going Rouge: An American Nightmare'</a>, 'The Nation''s Washington, D.C. Editor, Chris Hayes, quotes a joke from a friend in publishing: In the future the Internet will consist entirely of Sarah Palin slide shows. It was disheartening this week to watch the exhaustive coverage of Sarah Palin's book 'Going Rogue' and see so few serious responses to the substance of her book. (And yes, there is substance.) The AP fact-checked Palin, but gone almost completely unanswered are many of the policy prescriptions she is injecting into the political debate: Tax cuts to stimulate job growth (been there, didn't work) and drill, baby, drill as an energy policy. </p> </p> <p> <p> Fortunately, 'Going Rouge' managed to inject some sanity into the debate. Here's video of <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/klein_video">Naomi Klein on Wednesday's Joy Behar Show</a>, commenting about Palin's economic policies and her role in the healthcare debate. And here's a <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/palinappeal_video">great video from GRIT TV</a>, where 'The Nation''s Richard Kim, Max Blumenthal, Salon's Rebecca Traister and Alaskan blogger Shannyn Moore discuss Palin's record in Alaska, and how her policy prescriptions would impact women in America. And here's a <a href="ttp://www.insidehighereducation.com/news/focus/books_and_publishing/intellectual_affairs/mclemee11">thoughtful review of both books</a> from 'Inside Higher Education'. </p> </p> <p> <p> Lastly, <a href="http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/11/week-in-the-news-103">here's a podcast</a> of NPR's On Point from Friday. I was on for the full hourlong week in review--topics were Palin, mammograms and healthcare. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/499707/around_the_nation">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MzInlVwFiYT6GrDDZUqXraTo3-E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MzInlVwFiYT6GrDDZUqXraTo3-E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MzInlVwFiYT6GrDDZUqXraTo3-E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MzInlVwFiYT6GrDDZUqXraTo3-E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/BhMENSshhvI" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-22T10:37:07-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=499707 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/499707/around_the_nation http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_rzZJHyfkoU/health_care_bill_advances_as_harry_reid_trumps_sarah_palin http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/499609/health_care_bill_advances_as_harry_reid_trumps_sarah_palin <p> Sarah Palin may have the headlines. </p> <p> But <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/69009-senate-democrats-unite-to-take-huge-step-on-healthcare-reform">Harry Reid has a health-care reform bill, and it is advancing.</a> Indeed, with Saturday night's 60-39 Senate vote to open a historic debate on the measure, the movement humanize America's healthcare system -- which began almost 70 years ago -- is closer to a congressional breakthrough than at any time in its history. </p> <p> "Ted would be happy," Reid said Saturday night, invoking the name of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who spent a political lifetime championing health care reform.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/499609/health_care_bill_advances_as_harry_reid_trumps_sarah_palin">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/p_F1mOXdEF_DB83P9vqjCfiUEHI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/p_F1mOXdEF_DB83P9vqjCfiUEHI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/p_F1mOXdEF_DB83P9vqjCfiUEHI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/p_F1mOXdEF_DB83P9vqjCfiUEHI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_rzZJHyfkoU" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-11-21T11:00:23-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=499609 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/499609/health_care_bill_advances_as_harry_reid_trumps_sarah_palin http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/f-OWWw8H6vM/palin_as_the_church_lady http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499337/palin_as_the_church_lady <p> You gotta give Sarah Palin's book tour credit for one thing: It's really putting the passive-aggressive instincts of the religious right on public display. </p> <p> And not just because she spends much of her 432-page book blaming campaign media flacks and hairdressers, bless their cinder-black hearts, for the McCain/Palin ticket's loss in 2008. Here's Sarahcuda talking up 'Going Rogue' for the Christian Broadcasting Network this week, reproving her critics by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/palin-book-tour-my-critic_n_364400.html">saying</a>, "These are probably some lonely people, some shallow people who want to take a shot like that, and we need to pray for these people." </p> <p> The former (for half a term) governor of Alaska sounds a bit like the 'Saturday Night Live' Church Lady, who pretended to be generous and devout but was always on the verge of boiling over with resentment, even barely contained violence, for anyone whose demeanor she considered insufficiently pious. (What would Dana Carvey's character have said about Palin's too-tight skirts and stiletto-heeled red pumps, I wonder?)</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499337/palin_as_the_church_lady">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_kvnzLyMagEPayaBg6DoAnrGBgM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_kvnzLyMagEPayaBg6DoAnrGBgM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_kvnzLyMagEPayaBg6DoAnrGBgM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_kvnzLyMagEPayaBg6DoAnrGBgM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/f-OWWw8H6vM" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-20T16:40:10-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=499337 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499337/palin_as_the_church_lady http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/0NVY_Nkd-hw/man_made_disaster_in_new_orleans http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499247/man_made_disaster_in_new_orleans <p> Hurricane Katrina is often called a natural disaster, as if it was all nature's fault, not man's. The reality, of course, is that federal, state and local governments ignored warnings from scientists for years, both that climate change would lead to increased storm activity, and that destruction of wetlands outside of New Orleans had hurt the city's natural defenses against a storm surge. Calls for fixing levees and infrastructure investments went unheeded while the doctrine of markets and profits held sway. </p> <p> This week, a federal district judge finally ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers was indeed responsible for part of the devastation in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward and parts of St. Bernard Parish. </p> <p> The failure of the Corps to recognize the hazards wetland destruction had created was "clearly negligent on the part of the Corps," said U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. "Furthermore, the Corps not only knew, but admitted by 1988 [the threats to human life] and yet it did not act in time to prevent the catastrophic disaster that ensued."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499247/man_made_disaster_in_new_orleans">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bzPbf3orZN2BQoBlhDe7aRwgpeg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bzPbf3orZN2BQoBlhDe7aRwgpeg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bzPbf3orZN2BQoBlhDe7aRwgpeg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bzPbf3orZN2BQoBlhDe7aRwgpeg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/0NVY_Nkd-hw" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-20T13:25:30-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=499247 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/499247/man_made_disaster_in_new_orleans http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/4THqxGR68zA/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/499212/slacker_friday <p> <p> My new Think Again column, called "History Isn't a Dirty Word," about the incredible amnesia shown by the MSM regarding the Bush presidency is <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/11/ta111909.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> My new 'Nation' column, on Marty Peretz's 'New Republic' being "Bad for the Jews" is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/alterman">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> This week on Moyers:</p> <p> This week in 1) craziness and 2) corruption: </p> <p> 1) SC offering shoppers tax-free weekend on guns </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/499212/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ueP0fF_23hcAgb6KHmziY1akuMg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ueP0fF_23hcAgb6KHmziY1akuMg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ueP0fF_23hcAgb6KHmziY1akuMg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ueP0fF_23hcAgb6KHmziY1akuMg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/4THqxGR68zA" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-11-20T12:29:54-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=499212 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/499212/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/PrZT86KTpB4/an_alternative_to_escalation_in_afghanistan http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/499197/an_alternative_to_escalation_in_afghanistan <p> </p> <p> <p> President Obama is expected to make a decision regarding his Afghanistan strategy after Thanksgiving. Before doing so, he would be wise to consider an alternative which has, until now, been excluded from the systematic review of the gravest decision a president must make. That alternative is laid out clearly in a <a href="http://honda.house.gov/pdf/AfghanLtrPOTUS1109.pdf">just-released letter</a> to President Obama from the Congressional Progressive Caucus' Afghanistan Taskforce. </p> </p> <p> <p> Through careful consultation with a wide array of experts, including those who testified at a <a href="http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?SectionID=108&amp;ParentID=0&amp;SectionTypeID=4&amp;SectionTree=108">series of forums</a> on Afghanistan earlier this year, the Taskforce has developed a smart, alternative approach that would be more effective in providing for both US and Afghanistan security, and far less costly in treasure and lives. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/499197/an_alternative_to_escalation_in_afghanistan">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sB9lCyxx6kLvLswHpdj2dNFFf78/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sB9lCyxx6kLvLswHpdj2dNFFf78/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sB9lCyxx6kLvLswHpdj2dNFFf78/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/sB9lCyxx6kLvLswHpdj2dNFFf78/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/PrZT86KTpB4" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-20T11:11:13-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=499197 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/499197/an_alternative_to_escalation_in_afghanistan http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/k6H-wl-U13A/bad_for_the_jews http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/499055/bad_for_the_jews <p> <p> My new Think Again column is called : "History" Isn't a Dirty Word about the incredible amnesia shown by the MSM regarding the Bush presidency is <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/11/ta111909.html">here </a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> My new 'Nation' column, on Marty Peretz's 'New Republic' as being "Bad for the Jews" is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091207/alterman">here</a> (I took a relatively high road here, and did not get personal about Peretz but whenever I write about "aging ideologue" I like to point out the following. The man's entire life is filled with nothing but negative accomplishments. He has never published a book; never published a memorable piece of scholarship. He has written no journalism of note, save in a negative fashion. He does not actually edit the magazine upon which his name appears. All he has really done since becoming an adult is to spend down the inherited fortune of his ex-wife, lose TNR readership, destroy its reputation, end its tenure as both a liberal and a weekly magazine, and spew insults to people who, almost without exception have accomplished more in life than he has. Were it not for his former wife's inherited fortune, we would take his racist rants no more seriously than we would any other bitter, crazy old man screaming at Arabs and Latins on the streets of Cambridge.) </p> </p> <p> <p> That's all this week </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/499055/bad_for_the_jews">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8zKeMpl-r_eyItpWYZErArA6LgU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8zKeMpl-r_eyItpWYZErArA6LgU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8zKeMpl-r_eyItpWYZErArA6LgU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8zKeMpl-r_eyItpWYZErArA6LgU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/k6H-wl-U13A" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-11-19T14:41:59-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=499055 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/499055/bad_for_the_jews http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/fpEeZlBAxv0/with_harvard_s_help_congress_may_keep_bloggers_out_of_jail http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/498941/with_harvard_s_help_congress_may_keep_bloggers_out_of_jail <p> It's hard <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Hard_out_Here_for_a_Pimp">out here</a> for a blogger. </p> <p> And hard for online journalists, unemployed new media producers, and just about anyone else dabbling in journalism without professional backing. </p> <p> Beyond the basic financial challenges, there is scant legal help for members of the new media, even though they face the same complex, pricey legal threats as traditional media. Plus extra threats -- like government attempts to <a href="http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2007/12/21">out anonymous bloggers</a>, which can cost a lot to fight in court.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/498941/with_harvard_s_help_congress_may_keep_bloggers_out_of_jail">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/meuYxPvbdsNsr0hF0pLJDZ6d-Ko/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/meuYxPvbdsNsr0hF0pLJDZ6d-Ko/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/meuYxPvbdsNsr0hF0pLJDZ6d-Ko/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/meuYxPvbdsNsr0hF0pLJDZ6d-Ko/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/fpEeZlBAxv0" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-19T10:43:39-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=498941 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/498941/with_harvard_s_help_congress_may_keep_bloggers_out_of_jail http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/F0dvD4UEJyE/chongqing_socialism_in_one_city http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/498671/chongqing_socialism_in_one_city <p> I'm writing today from Chongqing, a vast city in central China that is China's gateway to its western regions. By some accounts, Chongqing is the largest city in the world, a muncipality of 32 million people, but that, I've learned, is misleading, since that number includes the population of a handful of satellite cities and a rural population of 20 million. A few years ago, however, China carved Chongqing and its 32 million people out of Szechuan province and made it a municipality of its own, and today the Chongqing is a pilot project for the most important thing happening in China, and perhaps the world: the urbanization of as many as half a billion people from rural farms and villages into newly constructed cities. "Chongqinq," says Wen Tianping, the city's spokesman, "is a microcosm of China itself." </p> <p> The scale of the enterprise is staggering. In Chongqing, each year for the indefinite future, the plan is to move 500,000 people from rural to urban life. That means that Chongqinq must plan, ready, and construct the equivalent of a city the size of Atlanta, Georgia, every year, providing jobs, roads, housing, infrastructure, schools, hospitals and more. It's a project that has been going on in China for the past 20 years, during which 200 million people have already been urbanized, and over the next generation another 200 to 300 million people will follow in their footsteps. </p> <p> "We have plans, timetables, goals," says Qian Lee, the director of Chongqing's comprehensive business promotion project. "You can't have a plan for everything. But we don't make plans to be abandoned. We make plans to be accomplished. You do it scientifically, as we always say in China." </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/498671/chongqing_socialism_in_one_city">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iZqTRPJF25-fuRra3b1byybSEe0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iZqTRPJF25-fuRra3b1byybSEe0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iZqTRPJF25-fuRra3b1byybSEe0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iZqTRPJF25-fuRra3b1byybSEe0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/F0dvD4UEJyE" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-18T17:23:43-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=498671 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/498671/chongqing_socialism_in_one_city http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/SmiGApaYL3I/real_simple_economics http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/498636/real_simple_economics <p> <p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/chuck_collins">Chuck Collins</a>, co-founder of United for a <a href="http://www.faireconomy.org/">Fair Economy</a> and a senior scholar at the <a href="http://www.ips-dc.org/staff/chuck">Institute for Policy Studies</a>, describes the difference between this financial crisis and those of the past. </p> </p> <p> <p> "The risk of this economic crisis is that people stay isolated, hunkered down and afraid," Collins says. "What's different from the serious economic crises of the past is the much greater potential for fragmentation and isolation--because we've lived through a couple generations of 'you are on your own' economics. So the idea that we can trust any kind of shared response is broken." </p> </p> <p> <p> That's why in January 2009 the Institute for Policy Studies piloted <a href="http://commonsecurityclub.org/">Common Security Clubs</a> to break through the isolation, and bring people together to learn, help one another increase their economic security, and ultimately take <a href="http://commonsecurityclub.org/?p=403">political action</a>. The clubs are not an effort to turn away from government, in fact they are in part an effort to develop the skills and solidarity needed to advocate for a government that work for the common good. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/498636/real_simple_economics">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acPAWvBD33krVf3xZYtmOMCtht0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acPAWvBD33krVf3xZYtmOMCtht0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acPAWvBD33krVf3xZYtmOMCtht0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acPAWvBD33krVf3xZYtmOMCtht0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/SmiGApaYL3I" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-18T15:10:58-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=498636 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/498636/real_simple_economics http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/GqqAmu-NfiY/toward_copenhagen http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/498561/toward_copenhagen <p> 'This post, which will appear in condensed form in this week's issue of The Nation, was co-written and researched by Andrea D'Cruz' </p> <p> <hr> </p> <p> As we approach the <a href="http://en.cop15.dk/">Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference</a>, December 7 to 18--the world's last chance to secure an emissions reductions agreement that will replace the Kyoto Protocol before it expires--<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/klein">activists racing against a ticking environmental bomb</a> are channeling their energies at the UN talks and beyond. Join them.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/498561/toward_copenhagen">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c_7kaMWP8R0zQI_4Znh37qeOzCg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c_7kaMWP8R0zQI_4Znh37qeOzCg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c_7kaMWP8R0zQI_4Znh37qeOzCg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c_7kaMWP8R0zQI_4Znh37qeOzCg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/GqqAmu-NfiY" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-18T12:47:25-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=498561 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/498561/toward_copenhagen http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/QBBW9zvgrvo/affectionate_jousting_with_michael_tomasky http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/498107/affectionate_jousting_with_michael_tomasky <p> </p> <p> <p> My good friend Michael Tomasky has a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2009/nov/17/obama-administration-congress">blog</a> over at 'The Guardian'... </p> </p> <p> <p> I consider it what he called it in his subject line--an "affectionate joust." (Mike is an ace former 'Nation' intern, a longtime friend, a brilliant writer and not-frequent-enough-in-my-view 'Nation' contributor.) In his blog he takes on (some of) my comments on MSNBC's Ed Schultz show last night. (A little friendly cherry-picking, Mike!) I don't disagree with much of what Mike writes. My first reflex is certainly not to blame Obama. (See my column on "<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091123/kvh">Obama, One Year On</a>"--posted below, for more on why I think progressives would be wise to avoid reflexive criticism.) But I do think President Obama could step forward at this time, challenge lobbyists more directly, speak out more forcefully about the cruel Stupak language, call out self-righteous egotists like Joe Lieberman, demand some party unity on a bill that will define not only the Democratic party's future in 2010--but for a long while. And why not bring in LBJ? Sure history by analogy is often imperfect, but there are also lessons to be drawn from models of Presidential leadership. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/498107/affectionate_jousting_with_michael_tomasky">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wT3GqKzSV8SeAn-eiPMcFM6h-9s/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wT3GqKzSV8SeAn-eiPMcFM6h-9s/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wT3GqKzSV8SeAn-eiPMcFM6h-9s/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wT3GqKzSV8SeAn-eiPMcFM6h-9s/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/QBBW9zvgrvo" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-17T10:34:44-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=498107 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/498107/affectionate_jousting_with_michael_tomasky http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/-bNosOzXYik/newsweek_taps_bush_aide_for_obama_reporting_updated http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/498073/newsweek_taps_bush_aide_for_obama_reporting_updated <p> See if you can follow this logic. </p> <p> A recent <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/221607 ">article</a> in <em>Newsweek</em> states that Democrats <em>could </em>have won a "very significant number of Republican votes in Congress" for the stimulus -- had there only been a "meaningful tax-cut component." Political journalism is often imaginative, but this verges on delusion. After all, Obama labored to add about $280 <a href="http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx?q=content/investments">billion</a> in <a href="http://projects.nytimes.com/44th_president/stimulus">tax cuts</a> to the stimulus -- over objections from many Democrats -- and still netted zero Republican votes in the House. Then, the piece asserts that Obama has no "coattails," based on 2009 elections, and reports "early signs of Obama fatigue are emerging." (Again, another observer might note that Democrats have won all 5 special congressional elections this year.) The article also predicts that gubernatorial losses in Virginia and New Jersey "will" make some Democrats "very nervous" about health care reform, which is a "political risk" for the party. </p> <p> "We appear to be witnessing the beginnings of a significant Republican revival," continues the piece, bringing home its quirky counter-narrative. Lucky for struggling Democrats, however, this <em>Newsweek</em> item closes with some free political advice. "Liberals in Washington would do well to let go of the Republican breakdown narrative," notes the final sentence, "and pull back to the center--or suffer the consequences." </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/498073/newsweek_taps_bush_aide_for_obama_reporting_updated">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q46QlRrLNRRN6ti02bEEQxxe9_k/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q46QlRrLNRRN6ti02bEEQxxe9_k/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q46QlRrLNRRN6ti02bEEQxxe9_k/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/q46QlRrLNRRN6ti02bEEQxxe9_k/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/-bNosOzXYik" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-11-17T09:32:04-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=498073 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/498073/newsweek_taps_bush_aide_for_obama_reporting_updated http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/oZz2dhrA8zg/the_view_from_china http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/498052/the_view_from_china <p> When Yiang Jiemian, president of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, gets together with his brother, Yang Jiechi, China's minister of foreign affairs, they don't talk strategy or politics. "We talk about our grandfather," he says, with a smile. </p> <p> We're sitting in a conference room at SIIS, though, and Yang Jiemian is talking strategy with a few visiting journalists. I ask Dr. Yang about China's view of US policy in the Middle East and central Asia. What, exactly, is his opinion of the notion that the United States is seeking to control that crucial region, including its oil and natural gas reserves, as part of a strategy of containing China? President Obama has just left Shanghai, the sprawling city of 19 million people, and he told China that the United States does not want to contain or limit China's influence in Asia or the world. Yet the United States and China don't always agree on Iran, Afghanistan, and other questions. </p> <p> "There might be a slight difference of understanding between our two cultures, our two languages," says Yang, who is flanked by a team of strategists and area specialists. ""When America talks about strategy, it implies military, security, confrontation. In China, we have a much broader view of the idea of 'strategy.' We mean something that is long-term and systematic."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/498052/the_view_from_china">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JbnttOzZP4CXiNXqw8LeXJLTN5Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JbnttOzZP4CXiNXqw8LeXJLTN5Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JbnttOzZP4CXiNXqw8LeXJLTN5Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JbnttOzZP4CXiNXqw8LeXJLTN5Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/oZz2dhrA8zg" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-17T08:53:53-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=498052 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/498052/the_view_from_china http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/2WLhHQ56-kM/around_the_nation http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/497499/around_the_nation <p> <p> The opportunity to sit down and talk with the remarkable American writers (and Nation Editorial Board members) Toni Morrison, Tony Kushner, and Walter Mosley is rare enough one on one. The chance to talk with all three of them together, about the future of our culture, is extraordinary. If you're in New York on Wednesday night, you have that opportunity to do just that--at the second of two Nation "Salons." In these intimate discussions (with a cocktail party to follow) we're bringing together some of the best thinkers in the World to debate critical topics of our time. The first Salon last month asked "what will become of our media." Wednesday's Salon asks an equally provocative question: What will become of our culture, as technology, cultural shifts and political changes reshape the world. The event is a fundraiser for 'The Nation' and helps support our investigative reporting. If you've ever wanted to meet Toni Morrison, Tony Kushner or Walter Mosley (or all three) there are still a few tickets remaining. Click <a href="http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/5962-what-will-become-of-our-culture">here</a> to register. Tickets are discounted for Editor's Cut readers--enter code RAC102 for half off. </p> </p> <p> <p> (If you're not in New York, we'll have video up later this month.) </p> </p> <p> <p> That investigative reporting was on full display here in the last week, as Reporter Aram Roston (supported by The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute) <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston">revealed that money is flowing from the Pentagon</a> to insurgents in Afghanistan, including the Taliban. We're literally paying insurgents to let our supply lines pass, so that our soldiers have supplies to fight insurgents. It's an outrage, and it demonstrates once again the folly of escalation in the region as President Obama nears his fateful decision. Here's MSNBC's Ed Schultz and Brave New Film's Robert Greenwald discussing the story: </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/497499/around_the_nation">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/34gm_HFjXYBsNT-dGBSzTfCy0ds/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/34gm_HFjXYBsNT-dGBSzTfCy0ds/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/34gm_HFjXYBsNT-dGBSzTfCy0ds/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/34gm_HFjXYBsNT-dGBSzTfCy0ds/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/2WLhHQ56-kM" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-15T16:35:38-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=497499 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/497499/around_the_nation http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/X7Dv5UXy704/slacker_saturday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/497335/slacker_saturday <p> <p> I've got a new Think Again column, which involved quite a bit more work than usual, by the way, called "The Continuing Scandal of Howard Kurtz and The Washington Post," <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/11/ta111209.html">here</a>. And my Moment column, "Why Jews Vote Like Puerto Ricans (and not Episcopalians)" is <a href="http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2009/2009-12/200912-Opinion-Alterman.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> CHARLES PIERCE</p> <p>NEWTON, MA</p> <p>Hey Doc:</p> <p>"Looked like there was 10,000 people standin' round the buryin' ground/I didn't know I loved her 'til they laid her down."</p> <p>Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "Crescent City Calypso" (Dr. Michael White)--I am weighing several plans for a new offensive in my campaign to tell the country how much I love New Orleans.</p> <p>Short Takes:</p> <p>Part The First: A tip of the Tam to the redoubtable Digby who found <a href="http://www.politico.com/click/stories/0911/alist_pundits_make_nice.html">THIS</a> first. In the immortal words of Alvy <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075686/">SINGER</a>, what I wouldn't give for a large sock full of horse manure.</p> <p>Part The Second: A media project started by Tucker (Fail) <a href="http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/revolving-door-wash-times-white-house-correspondent-is-latest-to-leave.php?ref=fpb">CARLSON</a>!</p> <p>And now, a word from our <a href="http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2681903360/tt0094291">SPONSOR</a>: "If this guy owned a funeral parlor, nobody would die."</p> <p>Part The Third: I like this <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/11/16/091116crbo_books_kolbert?currentPage=all">REVIEW</a> for the clarity of its arguments, but I love it for the fact that the 'New Yorker' finally breaks The Horseshit Barrier--see the last graf--and tiny mummies weep in the Beyond. But baseball <a href="http://www.speakeasy.org/~bucky/elia_tirade.html">MANAGERS</a> across America cheer!</p> <p>Good on you, Elizabeth.</p> <p>Part The Fourth: Of course, there are <a href="http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/ingraham-pelosi-did-everything-but-sell-her-own-body-to-pass-health-care-reform.php?ref=fpblg">CHEAPER, TAWDRIER GOODS</a> out there selling themselves on the radio.</p> </p> <p> <p>Part The Fifth: Being The Continuing Adventures Of Waldo, The Drunk Security Guard. Amazed at his continued employment at the home offices of Salon, Waldo celebrates by chasing 15 shots of Virginia Gentleman with a six-pack of Piels Real Draft. He sings two choruses of "Twist And Shout" and, while impersonating Ferris Bueller atop a desk, he falls, knocking himself unconscious. While he is out cold, a squirrel hops in through a window, downs the rest of the liquor, and starts tap-dancing on a <a href="http://salon.com/news/opinion/camille_paglia/2009/11/10/pelosi/">KEYBOARD</a>. "When as a Yale graduate student I ransacked that great temple, Sterling Library, in search of paradigms for reintegrating literary criticism with history, I found literally nothing in Levi-Strauss that I felt had scholarly solidity." And then I failed to find my ass with both hands and made a career out of it.</p> <p>Part The Sixth: A week or so back, I chided the NYT's rightist quota <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490501/slacker_friday">HIRE</a> for arguing that religious conflict is sanctioned by the Gospels, but that acts of charity lack a sound basis in Scripture. I'd like to know what he thinks of today's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/490501/slacker_friday">READING</a>, apparently from the Letter Of Paul To The Gambinos. Bastards.</p> <p>Part The Penultimate: Further proof that, at Arianna's joint, where resides The Future Of Journalism, all you need to get a gig is a seat in one Green Room or <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mika-brzezinski/dont-forget-to-have-kids_b_350594.html">ANOTHER</a>. (And, as Interim Altercation Sports Editor, it behooves me to point out <a href="http://deadspin.com/5403091/huffpos-super+exciting-cutting+edge-sports-section-debuts--with-a-mike-lupica-column">Exhibit B</a> for the prosecution.). Mika's dough-brained patter is unworthy of a weekly shopper in central Missouri. I mean, really, "Being a mommy"? And, worse, in a country with 10 percent unemployment and rising, "You can always change a job"? Nice, Mika. Change yours. Today.</p> <p> (Episode Two: Revenge Of The <a href="http://www.dependablerenegade.com/dependable_renegade/2009/11/screaming-about-it-in-all-caps.html">TWIT</a>)</p> <p>Part The Ultimate: I'm sorry but while both Ezra <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/11/is_a_flawed_health_care_bill_b.html">KLEIN</a> and Jon <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-house-bill-worse-nothing-really">COHN</a> have done great work on this issue, they are talking here about a country and a political system that no longer exist. And their responses to Marcia Angell's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-angell-md/is-the-house-health-care_b_350190.html">CRI DE COEUR</a> are largely political, and not really to the point of her piece, which is that no substantive reform of the system is possible until the control that the insurance industry exercises over the practice of medicine is broken forever. The now-familiar argument is that the House bill--even if it had a snowball's chance in hell of surviving the Senate intact, which it doesn't--represents a good first step. When exactly was the last time our political system--to say nothing of the Congress--did anything in "steps"? We don't progress. We move a step ahead, and then there's an election, and then we move another step in the opposite direction. The idea that the current debate will produce a system that will somehow be immune to our febrile and idiotic politics is naive to the point of translucence. For this to have worked at all, it had to be so huge and transformative as to immunize itself thoroughly in the event that Congress or the White House--or both--change hands. It had to be so immense as to be unmovable so that it would be permanent enough for enough people out in the country to become invested in it that the political danger would be to monkey with it at all. (Which is pretty much the way things are in Canada now. Their system, for all its flaws, is politically sacrosanct.) It also had to be a big enough change to overcome the fact that one of our two parties will be completely off its head for the foreseeable future. Whatever comes out of this process is going to be far too fragile to survive the kind of boneheaded thinking that produced this <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/67293-sens-squeeze-speaker-over-commission">NONSENSE</a> this week. And Social Security has a more solid constituency than whatever the new healthcare plan will have. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/497335/slacker_saturday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8d-G4-JWdsKk7npwMr74utC4qho/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8d-G4-JWdsKk7npwMr74utC4qho/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8d-G4-JWdsKk7npwMr74utC4qho/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/8d-G4-JWdsKk7npwMr74utC4qho/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/X7Dv5UXy704" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-11-14T17:44:31-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=497335 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/497335/slacker_saturday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Ravk9FAu5bU/palestine_in_queens http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/496797/palestine_in_queens <p> Controversy is growing over a November 21st fundraiser at the New York Mets' new stadium Citi Field for the Brooklyn-based Israeli settlement group the <a href="http://www.binamica.co.il/~hfund/">Hebron Fund</a>. Settlement supporters have <a href="http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2009/11/06/the-new-york-mets-win-the-decency-series-stand-up-for-the-hebron-fund/">called for letters</a> praising the Mets for standing with the Hebron Fund, while justice and human rights groups issued <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/t/9047/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1687">an alert</a> demanding cancellation of the dinner. </p> <p> This video from <a href="http://adalahny.org/index.php/home">Adalah-NY</a>, opposing the dinner, shows why the protests are growing so feverish. </p> <p> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l-uzSWgJOjA&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l-uzSWgJOjA&amp;hl=en_US&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/496797/palestine_in_queens">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vXzbwNmsOHeqRfHc-vvL5u-oYXY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vXzbwNmsOHeqRfHc-vvL5u-oYXY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vXzbwNmsOHeqRfHc-vvL5u-oYXY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vXzbwNmsOHeqRfHc-vvL5u-oYXY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Ravk9FAu5bU" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-13T11:19:31-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=496797 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/496797/palestine_in_queens http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/-liVi0Pb7bo/more_deficit_idiocy_politico_edition http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/496732/more_deficit_idiocy_politico_edition <p> The discussion about deficits and debt in Washington is so colossally stupid and disingenuous that even engaging it makes me despair. But <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29471.html">today's Politico</a> so expertly packages together every conceivable Beltway Establishment inanity about "spending" and "deficits" into one glib little piece of analysis that I can't help myself. (Well, I could help myself but was <a href="http://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/5681491761">bullied over Twitter</a> into writing about it here.) </p> <p> There's one big maddening conceptual error at the heart of this piece (whether committed in good faith or bad I can't say) which is to confuse relatively substantial pieces of domestic legislation with a spending "binge." See, a government, like any organization, institution, or firm has 'expenditures' and 'revenues'. Miraculously, it can increase its expenditures, without increasing its deficit, 'if it also increases its revenues'. This is called "deficit neutral" and it's what the current health care bill, in all its incarnations, is. It is what the cap and trade bill will also be. Now consider this paragraph. </p> <p> <blockquote>For starters, the White House has not dropped plans for an aggressive global warming bill early next year that will be loaded with new spending on green technology and jobs – that would be paid for with tax increases. Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf says the White House focus on deficit reduction could easily kill the cap-and-trade effort. "I think this means cap-and-trade has to go to the backburner," he said.</blockquote></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/496732/more_deficit_idiocy_politico_edition">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VejKuPWmLbwb8J2iQDMnYaG0kmE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VejKuPWmLbwb8J2iQDMnYaG0kmE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VejKuPWmLbwb8J2iQDMnYaG0kmE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VejKuPWmLbwb8J2iQDMnYaG0kmE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/-liVi0Pb7bo" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-11-13T09:51:22-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=496732 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/496732/more_deficit_idiocy_politico_edition http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Q-97XQ5_n5M/breaking_up_is_hard_to_do http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/496401/breaking_up_is_hard_to_do <p> <p> When it comes to understanding the real economy and the struggles of ordinary Americans, Senator Bernie Sanders always seems to be ahead of the curve and <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/297410">fighting like hell</a> for Congress to show leadership and be responsive. </p> </p> <p> <p> Now he's doing it once again with his <a href="http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=b8b8fce1-60b9-4a4b-9bd8-a774761b2182">legislation</a> to break up the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091116/editors">Too Big To Fail</a> financial institutions that pose a threat to our entire economy. </p> </p> <p> <p> Sanders coined the phrase, "If you're too big to fail, you're too big to exist," back when he voted against the initial Wall Street Bailout in October 2008. Now, none other than former Fed Chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker are parroting it, and a lot of other notables from across the political spectrum have come around to support busting up the banks too, as the Senator describes below. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/496401/breaking_up_is_hard_to_do">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M-rhBotc46GxFMomw-igMqfXp8g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M-rhBotc46GxFMomw-igMqfXp8g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M-rhBotc46GxFMomw-igMqfXp8g/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M-rhBotc46GxFMomw-igMqfXp8g/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Q-97XQ5_n5M" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-12T16:10:00-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=496401 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/496401/breaking_up_is_hard_to_do http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/I9AJUjtGVQI/the_all_time_king_of_conflicts_of_interest_continued http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/496184/the_all_time_king_of_conflicts_of_interest_continued <p> <p> I've got a new Think Again column, which involved quite a bit more work than usual, by the way, called "The Continuing Scandal of Howard Kurtz and The Washington Post," <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/11/ta111209.html">here</a>. And my Moment column, "Why Jews Vote Like Puerto Ricans (and not Episcopalians)" is <a href="http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2009/2009-12/200912-Opinion-Alterman.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> and Hurray for <a href="http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2009/11/09/tomo/index.html">Tom Tomorrow</a>: for giving Mr. Bearded Librul his goatee back! </p> </p> <p> <p> (Let's not keep fighting about this, Dan. He's much handsomer this way...) </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/496184/the_all_time_king_of_conflicts_of_interest_continued">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZEGGOXizeCQ_Mo5xZGw6maK68go/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZEGGOXizeCQ_Mo5xZGw6maK68go/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZEGGOXizeCQ_Mo5xZGw6maK68go/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZEGGOXizeCQ_Mo5xZGw6maK68go/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/I9AJUjtGVQI" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-11-12T11:44:32-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=496184 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/496184/the_all_time_king_of_conflicts_of_interest_continued http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/lOVyKASJ70M/dobbs_for_president http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/496076/dobbs_for_president <p> Parsing the Lou Dobbs bombshell, I can't help wondering if the pudgy populist is planning a run for president in 2012. My guess: yes. And if he does, I'll bet he'll do so as a Peron-style, would-be Ross Perot. It could be America's first truly fascist electoral effort. </p> <p> Okay, I know I'm jumping the gun. Maybe his quitting is just so he can move over to Fox, though that would probably push Geraldo Rivera out. I'm not saying Dobbs would necessarily get much traction, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to raise money from wealthy right-wingers and set up a third party effort aimed at capturing tea baggers, anti-immigrant fanatics, and assorted other nutballs. </p> <p> In his statement last night, which you can read <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/dobbs-explains-decision-to-leave-cnn/">here </a>and watch <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/11/lou-dobbs-to-depart-cnn_n_354623.html">here</a>, Dobbs said:</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/496076/dobbs_for_president">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/S_6XVj4ooDuAfH2EKfXbh6Qg0b0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/S_6XVj4ooDuAfH2EKfXbh6Qg0b0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/S_6XVj4ooDuAfH2EKfXbh6Qg0b0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/S_6XVj4ooDuAfH2EKfXbh6Qg0b0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/lOVyKASJ70M" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-12T08:23:20-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=496076 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/496076/dobbs_for_president http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/le4HLJx7SoQ/abbas_shock_treatment http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/495650/abbas_shock_treatment <p> The crisis in US diplomacy with Israel and Palestine was the subject of an important discuss yesterday at the annual conference of the Middle East Institute. And the mood was decidedly pessimistic. </p> <p> Khalil Shikaki, a Brandeis University professor who has conducted more than 100 polls among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, focused on the decision by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, not to run for reelection in 2010. The decision by Abbas, which stunned the political universe in the Middle East, is a sign that the Obama administration's Middle East diplomacy has run out of gas. It's a surface indicator of the deep anger and unhappiness that is brewing throughout the Arab world over the administration's seeming unwillingness or inability to force Israel to the table with serious concessions. </p> <p> Shikaki said that the Abbas' decision not to run is a "major turning point" in Palestinian history. "He decided to destabilize the situation as a way of moving forward," he said.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/495650/abbas_shock_treatment">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PdVmkTzmBk7ZfQUmzwH49X1E9Kc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PdVmkTzmBk7ZfQUmzwH49X1E9Kc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PdVmkTzmBk7ZfQUmzwH49X1E9Kc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PdVmkTzmBk7ZfQUmzwH49X1E9Kc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/le4HLJx7SoQ" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-11-11T11:49:25-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=495650 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/495650/abbas_shock_treatment http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/kWcDaXtGK4A/turn_back_the_assault_on_women_s_rights http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/495200/turn_back_the_assault_on_women_s_rights <p> The House of Representatives voted yesterday to pass its health care reform bill (HR 3962) only after approving an amendment introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak that would prohibit any plan purchased with any federal subsidy from covering abortion services--even with private funds. </p> <p> Stupak argues that women with subsidized insurance policies could buy separate abortion-only "riders" with their own money much like they might purchase a dental or vision rider. The problem here, as my colleague Emily Douglas <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/494751/the_stupak_stupor"> points out</a>, is that "such an abortion rider doesn't exist now, and the legislation does not provide for its creation." </p> <p> Moreover, even if new legislation is written, the result would be the essential equivalent of a ban on abortion coverage because most women are unlikely to buy additional coverage for something they don't expect to ever need. In other words, women would have to plan in advance in the event they need an abortion despite the fact that abortion is a legal medical procedure for women concerned with 'unplanned pregnancies'. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/495200/turn_back_the_assault_on_women_s_rights">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1YvecRiM-6vAmxocMil0Gz4-IhQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1YvecRiM-6vAmxocMil0Gz4-IhQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1YvecRiM-6vAmxocMil0Gz4-IhQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1YvecRiM-6vAmxocMil0Gz4-IhQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/kWcDaXtGK4A" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-11-10T16:13:57-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=495200 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/495200/turn_back_the_assault_on_women_s_rights http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/ZDJTZ43AJ_E/good_riddance_to_the_msm http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/494764/good_riddance_to_the_msm <p> On October 27 I was part of the "<a href="http://www.intelligencesquared.org/">Intelligence Squared</a>" debate series, squaring off with NPR's John Hockenberry, 'Politico''s Jim VandeHei, and 'Vanity Fair' columnist Michael Wolff about the future of media. My side of the debate - with fine debating partners, David Carr of the 'New York Times' and Phil Bronstein of the 'San Francisco Chronicle', was arguing against the "resolution" (this was a classic, Oxford-style debate) of "Good Riddance to the Mainstream Media." I'm happy to report that we won the faceoff -- 50 percent of the audience came into the evening opposing the resolution; after the debate was over that number had swelled to 68 percent! </p> <p> As 'The Nation's editor and publisher it was an unusual position for me to take given how regularly the magazine criticizes the MSM'S missteps. But the values and virtues of a vigilant, powerful press are more critical now than ever and the answer to media bias and infotainment is not to throw "the baby out with the bath-water", as I said, probably one time too many, during the debate! </p> <p> The debate was lively, and at times contentious, with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/ref/business/bio-carr.html">Carr</a> quickly emerging as the star of the evening. He is an extraordinary and idiosyncratic character -- a cross between a figure out of David Lynch's 'Blue Velvet' and Clark Kent with a deep, gravelly voice colored by life's vicissitudes. He employed a highly effective, if eccentric style of rhetoric complete with a powerful visual flourish at the end when he brandished a printout of Wolff's site Newser, a news aggregation site, with all references to the MSM cut off. The page, as Carr noted, strongly resembled swiss cheese.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/494764/good_riddance_to_the_msm">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dJ0prdxjVGJXsWannEhI4clElWE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dJ0prdxjVGJXsWannEhI4clElWE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dJ0prdxjVGJXsWannEhI4clElWE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dJ0prdxjVGJXsWannEhI4clElWE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ZDJTZ43AJ_E" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-11-09T18:44:24-05:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=494764 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/494764/good_riddance_to_the_msm 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/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/~3/7068gOvcKT4/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/_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/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/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/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/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/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/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/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/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/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/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/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