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/ofsiSXVQK-0/revolutionary_republic_of_july_4_should_eschew_empire_s_errors http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448414/revolutionary_republic_of_july_4_should_eschew_empire_s_errors <p> The days leading up to the 233rd anniversary of American independence offered plenty of opportunities to consider how a country founded in opposition to empire and imperialism should respond to the democratic inclinations and repressions on display in distant (and not so distant) lands. </p> <p> Citizens are risking their lives in Iran to challenge the apparent theft of a presidential election – displaying a determination that was absent in America after the Supreme Court helped George Bush abscond with a presidency in 2000. </p> <p> Citizens are in the streets of Honduran cities to challenge the removal of an elected president in a classic military coup – of the sort that has not been seen since te bad old days when cold war meddling unsettled Latin America.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448414/revolutionary_republic_of_july_4_should_eschew_empire_s_errors">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LklWYHY1PtfcYbjpkSHX-I5XcvQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LklWYHY1PtfcYbjpkSHX-I5XcvQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LklWYHY1PtfcYbjpkSHX-I5XcvQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LklWYHY1PtfcYbjpkSHX-I5XcvQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/ofsiSXVQK-0" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-07-04T08:00:00-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=448414 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448414/revolutionary_republic_of_july_4_should_eschew_empire_s_errors http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/4oQX1jeOYx0/defining_patriotism http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/448536/defining_patriotism <p> The first sentence of 'The Nation''s prospectus, dated July 6, 1865, promised "the maintenance and diffusion of true democratic principles in society and government," surely a patriotic sentiment, as was the magazine's name. </p> <p> Since that time 'The Nation' has attempted to represent and give voice to the best of American values and culture and has steadfastly resisted any and all efforts through the years to brand dissent as unpatriotic. </p> <p> In the summer of 1991, in the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the magazine published a <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/19910715/forum">forum</a> exploring the question of what is patriotism -- Is there a patriotism that is not nationalistic? How does the historic internationalism of the liberal left relate to the concept of patriotism? What do you value in the traditions of your country? </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/448536/defining_patriotism">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f4VlMs0ah1XEeqKtmLB9HgrnutI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f4VlMs0ah1XEeqKtmLB9HgrnutI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f4VlMs0ah1XEeqKtmLB9HgrnutI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f4VlMs0ah1XEeqKtmLB9HgrnutI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/4oQX1jeOYx0" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-07-03T21:04:15-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=448536 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/448536/defining_patriotism http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/7YTolsKEtY4/rediscovering_secular_america http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/448533/rediscovering_secular_america <p> This Fourth of July, those who identify themselves as non-believers, or humanists, or atheists -- or a whole host of other names which signify a nontheistic worldview -- have much cause for celebration. After eight years in the Bush wilderness -- and an even longer period of ostracism by the Washington political establishment -- a rising demographic of like-minded Americans and a new president are guiding us back to our roots as a secular nation. </p> <p> "We have generally been a pariah group in America," says Woody Kaplan, Advisory Board Chair of the <a href="http://www.secular.org/index.html">Secular Coalition for America</a>. "Pretty much unrecognized by the political establishment. Yet there's almost no religious group in America as large as us…. We were that third rail that politicians failed to touch." </p> <p> Indeed when the Obama Administration invited the Coalition to the White House for a meeting in May it marked a stark departure from recent history.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/448533/rediscovering_secular_america">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d9Xuy9cLdctjLAmFDUO5wtmWBWA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d9Xuy9cLdctjLAmFDUO5wtmWBWA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d9Xuy9cLdctjLAmFDUO5wtmWBWA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d9Xuy9cLdctjLAmFDUO5wtmWBWA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/7YTolsKEtY4" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-07-03T20:36:42-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=448533 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/448533/rediscovering_secular_america http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/sfq7g0c-6Cc/palin_goes_gonzo http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448486/palin_goes_gonzo <p> Maybe Sarah Palin finally realized that the people who run the Republican party just aren't that into her. </p> <p> Maybe <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070301738.html">the soon-to-be-former governor of Alaska</a> is still delusional enough to think she can convince the party bosses that she's a contender for the GOP's 2012 presidential nomination. </p> <p> Maybe the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president is going to take them all on with a gonzo-style populist run against not just President Obama but the entire political establishment. And her talk about supporting change agents inside the Republican party and "outside it" suggests that she might actually be open to an independent or third-party bid.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448486/palin_goes_gonzo">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9MuxKo22MefL4Cy-ts88Fm0CI7E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9MuxKo22MefL4Cy-ts88Fm0CI7E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9MuxKo22MefL4Cy-ts88Fm0CI7E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9MuxKo22MefL4Cy-ts88Fm0CI7E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/sfq7g0c-6Cc" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-07-03T16:47:49-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=448486 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448486/palin_goes_gonzo http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/4kux3PcH1sA/celebrating_the_fourth_by_remembering_the_fifth http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/448409/celebrating_the_fourth_by_remembering_the_fifth <p> Other than consuming copious amounts of beer and barbecue food, what can Americans do on the Fourth of July to celebrate their freedom? Erwin Knoll, the late editor of 'The Progressive', used to pin a copy of the Bill of Rights to a tree at the parties he hosted. I'm not hosting any parties, and I'll spare you a virtual posting of the entire Bill of Rights, save for the Fifth Amendment, which merits special attention because Democrats and Republicans seem to have forgotten what it says. Here, then, is the forgotten fifth: </p> <p> <blockquote> </p> <p> No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. </blockquote></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/448409/celebrating_the_fourth_by_remembering_the_fifth">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDfTbuui4UnTKi5OltnFhFxEoKo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDfTbuui4UnTKi5OltnFhFxEoKo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDfTbuui4UnTKi5OltnFhFxEoKo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WDfTbuui4UnTKi5OltnFhFxEoKo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/4kux3PcH1sA" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-07-03T11:35:12-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=448409 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/448409/celebrating_the_fourth_by_remembering_the_fifth http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/kMuY8NGz-dY/destroying_america_to_save_it http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/448238/destroying_america_to_save_it <p> It's not only<a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/444762/conservatives_choke_on_persian_pretzel_logic"> neocons who desperately need enemies</a>, like Ahmadinejad, to succeed so that they'll have an excuse to bomb bomb bomb Iran, or any place they damn well please. It's also the paleocons and the concons (conspiracy conservatives), or whatever Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, could be called these days. </p> <p> Hard to categorize and hard to completely dismiss, Scheuer is the thickly bearded guy who's been all over the media the last few years calling his cable hosts "Sir," speaking out against the Iraq war, and making the sensible case that one reason "they hate us" is because of our support of Israel--not unlike paleo Pat Buchanan. But Scheuer's getting so wigged-out lately (writing in his most recent book, 'Marching Toward Hell', that Americans are now in "a place worse than hell"), that he's been finding common ground with Fox News' brightest conspiracy star, Glenn Beck. On Beck's show the other night, the two got themselves into such a froth over lax security on the Mexican border that Scheuer let loose with this: </p> <p> "The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States." </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/448238/destroying_america_to_save_it">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PYuHOvHz9D_ypApu2ca87f84uqE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PYuHOvHz9D_ypApu2ca87f84uqE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PYuHOvHz9D_ypApu2ca87f84uqE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PYuHOvHz9D_ypApu2ca87f84uqE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/kMuY8NGz-dY" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-07-02T16:09:17-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=448238 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/448238/destroying_america_to_save_it http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/MHodAnP8T0Q/obama_in_moscow http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/448192/obama_in_moscow <p> On Monday, President Obama heads to Moscow for two days of talks with President Dmitrii Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He also plans to meet with Russian opposition leaders and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and deliver what White House officials are billing as his third major foreign policy address--after his April arms control speech in Prague and his address in Cairo to the Muslim World. And today the White House confirmed that Obama will give an interview to Russia's leading opposition newspaper 'Novaya Gazeta.' </p> <p> This is very good news. </p> <p> In April, Russian President Dmitrii Medvedev gave his very first print interview to 'Novaya' and its courageous editor-in-chief Dmitrii Muratov. The view inside Russia at the time was that Medvedev's interview gave the paper protection at a time when the economic and human rights situation in Russia is, at best, unstable.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/448192/obama_in_moscow">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/SA1aRuQuUbrVshI-urrZb-LF7rE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/SA1aRuQuUbrVshI-urrZb-LF7rE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/SA1aRuQuUbrVshI-urrZb-LF7rE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/SA1aRuQuUbrVshI-urrZb-LF7rE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/MHodAnP8T0Q" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-07-02T13:54:26-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=448192 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/448192/obama_in_moscow http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/JbrDZjyjsjQ/mikey_n_me http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/448191/mikey_n_me <p> <p> <b>Wrapup:</b> We have a new "Think Again" column, picking up on the food fight between the 'Washington Post''s Dana Milbank and The Huffington Post's Nico Pitney and the larger issues we think it raises <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/07/ta070209.html">here</a> and my new 'Nation' column, "How Bold is Barack?" is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090720/alterman">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> I did a celebratory column on Al Franken's victory for The Daily Beast <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-01/how-cool-is-franken/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsL4">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> Oh and I appear to have started a twitter account, <a href="http://twitter.com/Eric_Alterman">here</a>, but don't get too excited about it yet. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/448191/mikey_n_me">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqIh7vYO_eIUjW8j8rHrGy1CHjI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqIh7vYO_eIUjW8j8rHrGy1CHjI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqIh7vYO_eIUjW8j8rHrGy1CHjI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kqIh7vYO_eIUjW8j8rHrGy1CHjI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/JbrDZjyjsjQ" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-07-02T13:51:30-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=448191 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/448191/mikey_n_me http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/rRAaWvyjw2w/totalitarian_rightists_put_orwellian_spin_on_honduras_coup http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448140/totalitarian_rightists_put_orwellian_spin_on_honduras_coup <p> To hear Rush Limbaugh and the tribunes of the totalitarian right tell it, everything is going swimmingly in Honduras. </p> <p> Yes, the military invaded the home of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya with guns blazing, kidnapped the country's elected leader and forced him to leave the country. </p> <p> Yes, the military then installed an unelected president and a new "interim" cabinet.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448140/totalitarian_rightists_put_orwellian_spin_on_honduras_coup">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cGfYgpigGYklWzeWp63jbwx6v_c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cGfYgpigGYklWzeWp63jbwx6v_c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cGfYgpigGYklWzeWp63jbwx6v_c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cGfYgpigGYklWzeWp63jbwx6v_c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/rRAaWvyjw2w" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-07-02T12:52:00-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=448140 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/448140/totalitarian_rightists_put_orwellian_spin_on_honduras_coup http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/MdZdGP2_ZLg/washington_even_more_corrupt_than_you_thought http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/448105/washington_even_more_corrupt_than_you_thought <p> The corrupting influence of monied interests is so established by now, such a dog-bites-man story that it can be hard to find novel and compelling ways to retell it. But luckily for us chroniclers of same the sheer depth, breath and audacity of the corruption continues to grow at such a pace that tracking its outer edges makes for good (but depressing) copy. </p> <p> Today's latest installment, which has the internet a twitter is the revelation that the Washington Post has set itself up a kind of influence broker for corporate lobbyists, arranging off-the-record dinners with key White House policy makers which lobbyists can attend for the low low price of $25,000. Mike Allen of Politico has the (very good) <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24441.html">scoop</a>: </p> <p> <blockquote>For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few" -- Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper's own reporters and editors.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/448105/washington_even_more_corrupt_than_you_thought">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PB8-O3e3iy43YJa1-kS2EGRpUC4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PB8-O3e3iy43YJa1-kS2EGRpUC4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PB8-O3e3iy43YJa1-kS2EGRpUC4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PB8-O3e3iy43YJa1-kS2EGRpUC4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/MdZdGP2_ZLg" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-07-02T09:56:18-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=448105 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/448105/washington_even_more_corrupt_than_you_thought http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/tmtXJVQ70pw/whisky_tango_foxtrot http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447844/whisky_tango_foxtrot <p> It's encouraging that General Jim Jones, the national security adviser, seems to have laid down the law to US generals in Afghanistan: no more troops. </p> <p> That's not the same as less troops, but it's a start. </p> <p> In a lengthy 'Washington Post'report, Jones is quoted extensively telling the generals that economic development in Afghanistan will win the fight with the Taliban, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063002811_pf.html">not more soldiers</a>. And he used rather colorful language to make his point. During the meeting with Jones, General Nicholson, the US commander, dropped hints that he'd like more forces. Here's the 'Post' account:</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447844/whisky_tango_foxtrot">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zh2e4RZxKZWSX-qK-hgUp4R7xBw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zh2e4RZxKZWSX-qK-hgUp4R7xBw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zh2e4RZxKZWSX-qK-hgUp4R7xBw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zh2e4RZxKZWSX-qK-hgUp4R7xBw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/tmtXJVQ70pw" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-07-01T09:36:27-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=447844 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447844/whisky_tango_foxtrot http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/v1U94iVsFmE/michael_jackson_trans_man http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447835/michael_jackson_trans_man <p> Michael Jackson. Dead at 50, with over 750 million albums sold. A genius, a freak, a trail blazer, a victim. Jackson's been called all that and more  – sometimes  in a single piece of prose.</p> <p>People will be talking about Jackson, his music, performance style, but most of all perhaps his persona, for decades. But ironically, one of the most perceptive reflections on Jackson was penned not since he died on June 25, but years before. Circulating around the internet over these past few days, has been an essay by James Baldwin which originally appeared in Playboy in 1985.</p> <p>It's not about Jackson, James Baldwin, wrote in the essay, originally titled <a href="http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=121&amp;section=toc">"Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood"</a> (and later renamed "Here be Monsters.")  Our culture's discomfort with those we consider "freaks" actually reveals something about ourselves. </p> <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="320" height="260" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" ><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="movie" value="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf" /> <param name="flashvars" value="init=http://blip.tv/play/8HSBjed4AA" /> <embed src="http://blip.tv/play/8HSBjed4AA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="320" height="260" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><p>"The Michael Jackson cacophony is fascinating in that it is not about Jackson at all," Baldwin wrote. "All that noise is about America, as the dishonest custodian of black life and wealth....the burning, buried American guilt; and sex and sexual roles and sexual panic; money, success and despair…"</p> <p>Baldwin put his finger on it: we're provoked -- and call "unstable" those who actually destabilize us. While Jackson may have been struggling with his own demons, he powerfully stirred up ours.</p> <p>"Freaks are called freaks and are treated as they are treated–in the main, abominably" continued Baldwin, "Because they are human beings who cause to echo, deep within us, our most profound terrors and desires." </p> <p>Freaks, so-called, destablize notions we're more comfortable keeping fixed, and mess about with ideas we prefer to box in -- like ideas about identity, sexuality, race, and control. "Freaks"  destabilize. They also release something, if we let them.</p> <p>So thanks to Michael, and to freaks and transformers everywhere.  On a good day, loosening up that previously fixed-space opens up room for change. </p><p><em><strong>The F Word</strong> is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at <a href="http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com">GRITtv.org</a> and TheNation.com. Follow "GritLaura" on <a href="http://twitter.com">Twitter.</a><br /> </em></p> </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447835/michael_jackson_trans_man">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Io_8hzcDuqz0qOcZIPo1TqWRyE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Io_8hzcDuqz0qOcZIPo1TqWRyE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Io_8hzcDuqz0qOcZIPo1TqWRyE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0Io_8hzcDuqz0qOcZIPo1TqWRyE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/v1U94iVsFmE" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-07-01T08:25:38-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=447835 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447835/michael_jackson_trans_man http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/XuH4vHB5SyA/food_independence_day http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/447607/food_independence_day <p> Thanks to the <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/06/serious-green-food-independence-day-july-fourth.html#continued">Serious Eats site</a> for alerting me to a new July 4 campaign. <a href="http://www.kitchengardeners.org/">Kitchen Gardeners International</a> (the same people who successfully led the charge for a White House Kitchen Garden) are encouraging patriotic citizens to celebrate America's independence by feasting on locally grown and raised food on the fourth. </p> <p> The related "<a href="http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/153">Food Independence Day" petition</a> asks the nation's 50 governors to participate and share their recipes and the names of the local farmers, fisherman, and food producers whose ingredients they'll be using. </p> <p> So far, more than 5,000 people have pledged to eat a meal made with local food on July 4. Check out <a href="http://foodindependenceday.org/">the map</a> of where things are planned. If there's nothing near you, join the campaign and add yourself. If you don't think you can create a mostly local meal, pick one dish and try to include one local thing--maybe some mint from a community garden in a drink, broccoli from a CSA, watermelon from a roadside stand in a salad, or a roasted pastured chicken from a nearby farmer's market. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/447607/food_independence_day">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j28lxiJ3q5wQ_47-Z6uIPD4f0OM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j28lxiJ3q5wQ_47-Z6uIPD4f0OM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j28lxiJ3q5wQ_47-Z6uIPD4f0OM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/j28lxiJ3q5wQ_47-Z6uIPD4f0OM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/XuH4vHB5SyA" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-30T18:35:23-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=447607 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/447607/food_independence_day http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/_4ykRn5eHBg/senator_al_franken http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/447461/senator_al_franken <p> The last legal and political barriers to Al Franken taking his seat as the junion senator from Minnesota crumbled Tuesday, as Republican incumbent <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/30/franken.ruling/index.html">Norm Coleman finally conceded</a> the contest. </p> <p> Coleman's concession came after the Minnesota Supreme Court confirmed what everyone pretty much knew: The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/30/AR2009063002425.html">voters chose Franken, the Democratic Farmer Labor Party candidate</a> over Coleman in last fall's U.S. Senate election. </p> <p> While the election result was close, the court's decision was not.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/447461/senator_al_franken">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_7jY6YtAuAtc0Hj9t_aJKoHyTz8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_7jY6YtAuAtc0Hj9t_aJKoHyTz8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_7jY6YtAuAtc0Hj9t_aJKoHyTz8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_7jY6YtAuAtc0Hj9t_aJKoHyTz8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/_4ykRn5eHBg" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-06-30T17:43:47-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=447461 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/447461/senator_al_franken http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/XkjPSKyPjeE/sanford_s_telltale_heart_exposes_gop_s_money_honey_problem http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447431/sanford_s_telltale_heart_exposes_gop_s_money_honey_problem <p> When Governor Mark Sanford was merely thought to be clearing his mind on the Appalachian Trial on Naked Hiking Day and all the nanny-state fuss-budgets and media finger-pointers were freaking out, Joe Scarborough knew better: His pal Sanford was the real tax-hating, stimulus-refusing, rugged individual deal, a John Wayne 2.0 who'd stroll back into South Carolina's capital without a care in the world. </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.thedailyshow.com/'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</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.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=231562&amp;title=moment-of-zen-joe-scarborough'>Moment of Zen - Joe Scarborough Knows Mark Sanford</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.thedailyshow.com/'>thedailyshow.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:231562' 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.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml'>Daily Show<br/> 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.thedailyshow.com/video/?searchterm=jason+jones'>Jason Jones in Iran</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table> </p> <p> Yeah! That's what I'm talking about, wrote RedState.com editor Erick Erickson who <a href="http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/06/23/the-lessons-of-mark-sanfords-hike/">called it</a> "refreshing that Mark Sanford is secure enough in himself and the people of South Carolina that he does not view himself as an indispensable man." Government can go take a hike.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447431/sanford_s_telltale_heart_exposes_gop_s_money_honey_problem">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/igQTxpJBAa9huhuteu7lWvPlSWU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/igQTxpJBAa9huhuteu7lWvPlSWU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/igQTxpJBAa9huhuteu7lWvPlSWU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/igQTxpJBAa9huhuteu7lWvPlSWU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/XkjPSKyPjeE" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-06-30T13:33:08-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=447431 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447431/sanford_s_telltale_heart_exposes_gop_s_money_honey_problem http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/kvVOHvz67Sw/is_americans_for_financial_reform_a_waste_of_time http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/447301/is_americans_for_financial_reform_a_waste_of_time <p> In this week's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090713/hayes">Capitolism column</a> I spotlight a new coalition of various progressive groups called <a href="http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/">Americans for Financial Reform</a>. The idea is to be for the upcoming fight over financial regulation, what HCAN has been to the healthcare reform battle: a well funded coalition pushing on the side of progressive policies. (There's a whole tangential debate to be had about HCAN's lack of support for single payer, but that's another story) </p> <p> Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake excerpts the piece and writes <a href="http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/06/29/americans-for-financial-reform-waste-of-time/">this</a>: </p> <p> <blockquote>Great. Glad to hear it. Another group that will redouble every mistake made by every such liberal group since the 1970s. They'll put together a bunch of experts, issue some "white papers," nobody will care but they'll raise a lot of money.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/447301/is_americans_for_financial_reform_a_waste_of_time">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qNrqIJ9bPwwSyYvnkMS5aPhhQYg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qNrqIJ9bPwwSyYvnkMS5aPhhQYg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qNrqIJ9bPwwSyYvnkMS5aPhhQYg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qNrqIJ9bPwwSyYvnkMS5aPhhQYg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/kvVOHvz67Sw" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-30T10:38:18-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=447301 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/447301/is_americans_for_financial_reform_a_waste_of_time http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/IlDpqoh1YhM/ahmadinejad_meets_o_j http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447288/ahmadinejad_meets_o_j <p> In a distinctly Orwellian turn of events, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ("Mr. Sixty-Three Percent") has pledged to investigate the death of Neda Agha-Soltan. It reminds me of O.J. Simpson's pledge to leave no stone unturned in the search for his wife's killer. </p> <p> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8125181.stm">According to the BBC</a>: </p> <p> <blockquote>In a letter to judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, Mr Ahmadinejad described Neda's death as "suspicious," reported the official IRNA news agency on Monday. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447288/ahmadinejad_meets_o_j">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MI6oVVr6wOM4aF5VoYgUCA3hLnw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MI6oVVr6wOM4aF5VoYgUCA3hLnw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MI6oVVr6wOM4aF5VoYgUCA3hLnw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MI6oVVr6wOM4aF5VoYgUCA3hLnw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/IlDpqoh1YhM" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-30T09:46:39-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=447288 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447288/ahmadinejad_meets_o_j http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/B9UQpZsod00/little_to_celebrate_in_iraq http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447282/little_to_celebrate_in_iraq <p> There's little to celebrate about the US pullback in Iraq. </p> <p> More than six years after the US invasion, Iraq is shattered. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dead -- far more, incidentally, than even the largest estimates of the number of Iraqis who died during 35 years of Saddam Hussein's rule -- its social fabric is utterly destroyed, its economy is in ruins, and its dominant political faction is in hock to neighboring Iran. </p> <p> And now what?</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447282/little_to_celebrate_in_iraq">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lzKr22qiRHzx01v9rMqnM7Vaiis/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lzKr22qiRHzx01v9rMqnM7Vaiis/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lzKr22qiRHzx01v9rMqnM7Vaiis/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lzKr22qiRHzx01v9rMqnM7Vaiis/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/B9UQpZsod00" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-30T09:13:50-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=447282 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/447282/little_to_celebrate_in_iraq http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/yCORawvHoj4/honduras_coup_poses_challenges_questions_for_obama_congress http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446957/honduras_coup_poses_challenges_questions_for_obama_congress <p> President Obama branded as "not legal" the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8125292.stm">the military coup in Honduras</a>, where elected President Manuel (Mel) Zelaya was kidnapped and flown out of the country by soldiers bent on blocking an advisory vote on constitutional reform in the country. </p> <p> Obama said a "terrible precedent" would be set if the coup were not reversed, adding that "We do not want to go back to a dark past. We always want to stand with democracy." </p> <p> The president's statement -- which toughened up a tepid earlier announcement that he was "deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras" -- came as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the crisis as "a test of the inter-American system's ability to support and defend democracy and constitutional order in our hemisphere."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446957/honduras_coup_poses_challenges_questions_for_obama_congress">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4kIEs0ZUc529k_VyvvHQaTstE60/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4kIEs0ZUc529k_VyvvHQaTstE60/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4kIEs0ZUc529k_VyvvHQaTstE60/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4kIEs0ZUc529k_VyvvHQaTstE60/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/yCORawvHoj4" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-06-29T18:56:35-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=446957 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446957/honduras_coup_poses_challenges_questions_for_obama_congress http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/N4WOwSNgfiY/sex_hypocrisy_governor_sanford http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447113/sex_hypocrisy_governor_sanford <p> Before we push the story about Governor Mark Sanford's "hiking the Appalachian Trail" (i.e. seeing his lover in Buenos Aires) entirely out of mind, I'd like to call attention to some statistics that appeared on yesterday's op-ed page of 'The New York Times'. There, courtesy of Charles M. Blow, we <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/opinion/27blow.html">learned</a> that the three states with the highest teenage birthrates in the country are Mississippi, Texas and Arizona. The three states with the highest number of online subscriptions to pornographic sites are Utah, Alaska and Mississippi. Eight of the ten states with the highest divorce rates are Arkansas, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Idaho, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia. </p> <p> What do all these states have in common? Yes, they are all "red states" that went for John McCain. The people preaching to us about what to do in our private lives and voting for politicians who espouse "traditional values" seem curiously incapable of applying these standards to themselves. </p> <p> But, hypocrisy aside, my first thought when I heard the news about Sanford was the same thought I always have when a story breaks about a politician's personal life: namely, so what? Why is it our business to track who a politician is sleeping with so long as no laws have been broken? Why should press conferences be wasted on such matters? Sanford's case was an exception because he disappeared for five days, a matter of public significance, some would argue. Fair enough. But as a friend of mine pointed out a few hours after the story about his escapade to Argentina broke, the inevitable result of showering attention on such matters is to humiliate the individuals involved and to reinforce the puritanical strain in our culture. It's somehow newsworthy that (shock!) a public figure has been unfaithful to his or her partner, that a marriage may be unraveling, that lies have been told. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447113/sex_hypocrisy_governor_sanford">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/be2DLYJ-5n2ndp9S4yRFA0TqjkE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/be2DLYJ-5n2ndp9S4yRFA0TqjkE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/be2DLYJ-5n2ndp9S4yRFA0TqjkE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/be2DLYJ-5n2ndp9S4yRFA0TqjkE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/N4WOwSNgfiY" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-06-29T17:17:11-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=447113 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/447113/sex_hypocrisy_governor_sanford http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/iD-35hXT15k/chipotle_injustice http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/446983/chipotle_injustice <p> Last week, leaders of the food justice movement -- including <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080922/schlosser">Eric Schlosser</a>, Raj Patel, Frances Moore Lappe, and Robert Kenner, producer and director of the new documentary <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/445316/food_inc">Food, Inc.</a> -- sent a strongly-worded letter to Chipotle demanding that they "work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a true partner in the protection of farmworkers' rights." </p> <p> The letter comes in the wake of a recent breakthrough for the Campaign for Fair Food -- Whole Foods' announcement that two of Florida's leading organic producers, Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms, will implement the company's agreement with the CIW, including the penny-per-pound wage increase and a strict code of conduct. </p> <p> For decades, Florida's farmworkers have faced terrible abuses and brutal exploitation. Workers earn sub-poverty wages for toiling 60 to 70 hours per week in season, and some have even been chained to poles, locked inside trucks, beaten, and robbed of their pay.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/446983/chipotle_injustice">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CmVFaYRiU-39QczXltCe049GzHQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CmVFaYRiU-39QczXltCe049GzHQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CmVFaYRiU-39QczXltCe049GzHQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CmVFaYRiU-39QczXltCe049GzHQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/iD-35hXT15k" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-29T12:01:07-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=446983 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/446983/chipotle_injustice http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/JKXmKmCqSZ0/time_to_end_false_bipartisanship http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/446851/time_to_end_false_bipartisanship <p> God I hope David Broder is wrong. "The President has told visitors," the 'Washington Post' columnist wrote last week, "that he would rather have 70 votes in the Senate for a bill that gives him 85 percent of what he wants rather than a 100 percent satisfactory bill that passes 52-48." The good news is that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is now talking about how bipartisanship may need to be redefined downward if the Democrats are going to pass meaningful healthcare reform. In a meeting with journalists last week, Emanuel proposed that healthcare legislation could be bipartisan without Republican votes. "There will be ideas from both parties, and individuals from both parties, in the final product," he said. "Whether the Republicans decide to vote for things they promoted will be up to them." ( David Axelrod seconded the emotion in his appearance on ABC's "This Week.") </p> <p> The trick now is to ensure that "centrist" Democrats (who, as Paul Krugman notes, "are in fact way out in right field") pay more attention to the broad majority favoring a strong public option than to the wads of dough lavished on them by big Pharma and insurance lobbyists. As Joe Conason put it in his invaluable 'New York Observer' column, "If Congress fails to enact healthcare reform this year---or it enacts a sham reform designed to bail out corporate medicine while excluding the 'public option'---then the public will rightly blame Democrats, who have no excuse for failure except their own cowardice and corruption." Blame could well be registered in ugly midterm election results in 2010. </p> <p> It's time to part ways with obstructionist Republicans and pass a strong healthcare bill with a majority vote, which is possible if efforts cease to get a handful of Republicans to cross over. Redefining bipartisanship at a time when the GOP has become a male, pale and stale party committed to deficit demagoguery and fearmongering is the common sense and, I'd even argue, pragmatic course. Instead of wasting time on recalcitrant GOP holdouts, do what Drew Westen, author of the terrific book "The Political Brain," advises to pass meaningful healthcare change: "Focus on principles, tell compelling stories, move people emotionally and send clear messages."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/446851/time_to_end_false_bipartisanship">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66wjnoYgD6uYlthG0mh3do7dWnA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66wjnoYgD6uYlthG0mh3do7dWnA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66wjnoYgD6uYlthG0mh3do7dWnA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66wjnoYgD6uYlthG0mh3do7dWnA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/JKXmKmCqSZ0" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-28T17:41:15-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=446851 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/446851/time_to_end_false_bipartisanship http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/A7sa3SKVIwY/house_passes_weak_climate_change_bill http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446444/house_passes_weak_climate_change_bill <p> The American Clean Energy and Security legislation that was backed by the Obama administration and congressional Democratic leaders as a centerpiece of the drive to address climate change was approved Friday by the U.S. House. </p> <p> Congressman Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who was a primary architect of the bill, called its passage a <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_12700391">"decisive and historic action</a> to promote America's energy security and to create millions of clean energy jobs that will drive our economic recovery and long term growth." </p> <p> But the House endorsement was anything but enthusiastic.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446444/house_passes_weak_climate_change_bill">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDEAM-T36kH5AkI_WPlEsBYFMZI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDEAM-T36kH5AkI_WPlEsBYFMZI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDEAM-T36kH5AkI_WPlEsBYFMZI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QDEAM-T36kH5AkI_WPlEsBYFMZI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/A7sa3SKVIwY" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-06-26T23:27:59-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=446444 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446444/house_passes_weak_climate_change_bill http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/w-j6UHFnJv8/obama_courts_disaster_with_new_detention_plan http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446398/obama_courts_disaster_with_new_detention_plan <p> The Obama administration is rushing towards a unilateral plan to imprison people without trial, according to a huge, new joint <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062603361_pf.html">article</a> from the <em>Washington Post</em> and ProPublica. The proposal would completely cut Congress out of the process by using an executive order to essentially bring Gitmo stateside: </p> <p> <blockquote>The Obama administration, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, is drafting an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations. Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that bypassing Congress could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.</blockquote> </p> <p> That is a terrible idea. For its part, the White House dispatched aides to push back. From the article:</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446398/obama_courts_disaster_with_new_detention_plan">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aUKlZT2PirOsgjG7X_m_uFC90s0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aUKlZT2PirOsgjG7X_m_uFC90s0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aUKlZT2PirOsgjG7X_m_uFC90s0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/aUKlZT2PirOsgjG7X_m_uFC90s0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/w-j6UHFnJv8" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-06-26T18:54:15-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=446398 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446398/obama_courts_disaster_with_new_detention_plan http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/-BIKOJdX_Z4/adultery_in_south_carolina_blame_the_woman http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446383/adultery_in_south_carolina_blame_the_woman <p> Here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the famed "redneck Riviera," the death of the King of Pop has taken second place to the adultery of the Governor in the local news. But it's the comments posted online at South Carolina daily newspapers that suggest something about local sentiment on this issue. I guess I should not have been surprised by the number that blamed the woman, especially after the media identified her as Maria Belen Chapur, a journalist for the Argentine TV station Canal America. </p> <p> In the Myrtle Beach Sun News [all quotes verbatim]: "Like most married men, he got caught involved with a woman of ways who seduced him. . . His biggest mistake was getting involved with a woman that when he tried to end it, sent copies of emails to his wife and the press anonymously and all knows she did it"-- tooclassy4you. </p> <p> "This gal is having the time of her life. She's enjoying a sexual encounter with a governer in the US, AND most likely has another local stud on call for quickies. WOW! Ladies and gentleman this gal is a professional COUGAR" – ibshagn.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446383/adultery_in_south_carolina_blame_the_woman">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n6mp8XPCOm6tTWku_LcjAn37JYA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n6mp8XPCOm6tTWku_LcjAn37JYA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n6mp8XPCOm6tTWku_LcjAn37JYA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/n6mp8XPCOm6tTWku_LcjAn37JYA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/-BIKOJdX_Z4" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-06-26T17:33:40-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=446383 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446383/adultery_in_south_carolina_blame_the_woman http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/oVylTvRBhIE/fighting_like_hell_for_healthcare_now http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/446344/fighting_like_hell_for_healthcare_now <p> <p> At Upper Senate Park on the grounds of the US Capitol yesterday, on a hot, humid DC summer day, 10,000 people from across the country <a href="http://blog.healthcareforamericanow.org/2009/06/26/health-care-09-what-did-we-accomplish/">rallied for healthcare reform</a> with a real public option. </p> </p> <p> <p> They flew in from as far as Washington state, Montana, New Mexico and Nebraska; bussed in from Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey; and made the trip from Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois. </p> </p> <p> <p> It was a vibrant crowd, showing the colors of unions that turned out in force: CWA red, UFCW yellow, AFSCME green, SEIU purple, LiUNA orange, IBEW lime, and SIU blue. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/446344/fighting_like_hell_for_healthcare_now">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BOcPgI1e_qwTGSJ0UEUGN5aoNaY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BOcPgI1e_qwTGSJ0UEUGN5aoNaY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BOcPgI1e_qwTGSJ0UEUGN5aoNaY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BOcPgI1e_qwTGSJ0UEUGN5aoNaY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/oVylTvRBhIE" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-26T14:55:05-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=446344 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/446344/fighting_like_hell_for_healthcare_now http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/MFHWRXldV8k/time_for_lunch http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/446322/time_for_lunch <p> I'll be coming back to this project but for now watch <a href="http://www.slowfoodusa.org/">Slow Food USA</a> president Josh Viertel announce the group's new <a href="http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch/">Time for Lunch</a> campaign to get real food into public schools. </p> <p> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_KnLVXpRFd4&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/_KnLVXpRFd4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> </p> <p> Children who grow up exposed to food that is fresh, local and good for them tend to adopt healthy eating habits that last throughout their lives. Conversely, if they're brought up on junk-food, it'll take a real effort for them to wean themselves of the habit as they grow older. The schools can be a big part of the solution 'if' school systems are provided with sufficient resources to serve real food instead of the overly processed fast food that endangers children's health.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/446322/time_for_lunch">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kt87NHMYEH0rCMspySciumGIxAA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kt87NHMYEH0rCMspySciumGIxAA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kt87NHMYEH0rCMspySciumGIxAA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kt87NHMYEH0rCMspySciumGIxAA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/MFHWRXldV8k" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-26T13:12:35-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=446322 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/446322/time_for_lunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/KHAd83RJk5g/is_max_baucus_change_we_can_believe_in http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446309/is_max_baucus_change_we_can_believe_in <p> For months, advocates for and against true health care reform in Washington have been closely watching Senator Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the all-powerful Finance Committee, and wondering what he'll do. We don't know the answer yet. Baucus was instrumental in helping George Bush pass tax cuts for the rich and privatize Medicare, but he's also said he wants to shepherd Barack Obama's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/politics/24baucus.html?_r=1&amp;scp=1&amp;sq=baucus&amp;st=cse">healthcare plan</a> through Congress and make universal coverage a reality once and for all. Thus far, we don't which Baucus will show up, the Bush-loving friend of big business or the populist ally of Obama. </p> <p> There's a reason The Nation dubbed Baucus "<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070319/berman/print">K Street's Favorite Democrat</a>" in a profile I wrote back in March 2007, after the Democrats recaptured Congress and Baucus became chair of the Finance Committee. Some background: </p> <p> <blockquote>After helping to craft the largest tax cut in a generation, Baucus raised more than $1 million in campaign contributions from the financial sector for his 2002 re-election campaign. Opening doors in both directions were former Baucus staffers. During the debate over whether to add a $400 billion privately run prescription-drug plan to Medicare, his former chief of staff, David Castagnetti, and legislative aide, Scott Olsen, were part of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's $8 million lobbying effort. Shortly after the legislation--written largely by the pharmaceutical industry--passed, Baucus's top staffer on the Finance Committee, Jeff Forbes, left to open his own lobbying shop, with clients including PhRMA, the drug maker Amgen and the American Health Care Association. These companies have in turn donated generously to Baucus; almost $700,000 between 2001 and 2006 from the healthcare industry and pharmaceutical lobby.</blockquote></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446309/is_max_baucus_change_we_can_believe_in">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lPFHpiYxHKvAbKK8l1pXlwZVycQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lPFHpiYxHKvAbKK8l1pXlwZVycQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lPFHpiYxHKvAbKK8l1pXlwZVycQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lPFHpiYxHKvAbKK8l1pXlwZVycQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/KHAd83RJk5g" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-06-26T11:54:26-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=446309 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446309/is_max_baucus_change_we_can_believe_in http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/1wo6j_QNReE/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/446294/slacker_friday <p> <p> <b>Wrap-up:</b> </p> </p> <p> <p> We've got a new "Think Again" column called "Who's Jailing Journalists?" <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/ta062509.html">here</a> in which we wonder, aloud, why the United States has joined the alleged Axis of Evil in jailing journalists without charge. </p> </p> <p> <p> And I did a piece for the Daily Beast on "The Death of the Neocons" <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-22/death-of-the-neocons/">here</a>. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/446294/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TYXgc4SmuzspOoDZdA-eTYds96A/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TYXgc4SmuzspOoDZdA-eTYds96A/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TYXgc4SmuzspOoDZdA-eTYds96A/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/TYXgc4SmuzspOoDZdA-eTYds96A/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/1wo6j_QNReE" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-26T11:16:43-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=446294 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/446294/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/oA99vUvk1Jw/michael_jackson_freak_like_me http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446177/michael_jackson_freak_like_me <p> Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, is dead of a heart attack at the age of 50. In the next few days we will be treated to endless eulogies mining the rich archive of his music, dance, videos, performances and especially his purported habits, hobbies, misdemeanors and alleged crimes. After all, what writer could resist mentioning the various critters and tchotchkes he collected: the hyperbaric, youth-preserving oxygen chamber, the Elephant Man's bones, his pet chimp Bubbles, the Beatles catalog, Neverland Ranch, Macaulay Caulkin, Elizabeth Taylor, his many noses, skin pigments and hairstyles, his one bright white glove. I certainly can't. </p> <p> These mutations will inevitably be placed in the tragic narrative of his decline. We will be asked to remember Jackson in his prime--as the smiling, dancing, "P.Y.T." black child star who outshone his less talented siblings in the Jackson Five or as the pop-and-dance virtuoso who transcended Motown by bringing us "Thriller," "Beat It" and "Billy Jean." Forget the eccentricities and footnote the accusations of child abuse and molestation (he was never found guilty). Those are but sad stains on the larger spangled fabric of his life and career. </p> <p> Well, I am here to say: fuck that shit. Without his extravagant eccentricities and ambiguous, obsessive relationships to race, gender, mortality and childhood (and children)--indeed without the conspicuously tenuous link he had to the category of the human itself--Michael Jackson would have been a B-list has-been. Most likely last seen on the latest episode of 'Celebrity Apprentice', his obit would have followed Farrah Fawcett's. In short, he'd be John Oates.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446177/michael_jackson_freak_like_me">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mPt7CEKYT0v_0nL8MaUn_v21ljw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mPt7CEKYT0v_0nL8MaUn_v21ljw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mPt7CEKYT0v_0nL8MaUn_v21ljw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mPt7CEKYT0v_0nL8MaUn_v21ljw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/oA99vUvk1Jw" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-06-25T20:36:00-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=446177 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/446177/michael_jackson_freak_like_me http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/e1m2B8dT9cs/michael_jackson_imperfect_icon_who_became_america_s_global_face http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446171/michael_jackson_imperfect_icon_who_became_america_s_global_face <p> This is a big world, with many remote corners where America is known only as a distant and different land. But Michael Jackson touched almost all of them. </p> <p> The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-michael-jackson-dead26-2009jun26,0,2152435.story">music star's death Thursday</a>, at age 50 after suffering an apparent cardiac arrest is an international event. And we ought to recognize why that is so. </p> <p> For all the eccentric – and ultimately unsettling – behavior that would see the "king of pop" ridiculed as the "king of weird" –-or worse-- Jackson was for a significant part of the 1980s and 1990s as much or more the face of America as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush or Bill Clinton.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446171/michael_jackson_imperfect_icon_who_became_america_s_global_face">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nZ4EG38oMg89e2YzhTLUPF_4z3Y/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nZ4EG38oMg89e2YzhTLUPF_4z3Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nZ4EG38oMg89e2YzhTLUPF_4z3Y/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nZ4EG38oMg89e2YzhTLUPF_4z3Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/e1m2B8dT9cs" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-06-25T19:52:20-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=446171 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/446171/michael_jackson_imperfect_icon_who_became_america_s_global_face http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/qEiAinPtUR0/who_s_jailing_journalists http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/446038/who_s_jailing_journalists <p> <p> <b>Roundup:</b> </p> </p> <p> <p> We've got a new "Think Again" column called "Who's Jailing Journalists?" <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/ta062509.html">here</a> in which we wonder, aloud, why the United States has joined the alleged Axis of Evil in jailing journalists without charge. </p> </p> <p> <p> And I did a piece for the Daily Beast on "The Death of the Neocons" <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-22/death-of-the-neocons/">here</a>. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/446038/who_s_jailing_journalists">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6VzTsLdnDWGn7lOuSd1g7EmQ9Xk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6VzTsLdnDWGn7lOuSd1g7EmQ9Xk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6VzTsLdnDWGn7lOuSd1g7EmQ9Xk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/6VzTsLdnDWGn7lOuSd1g7EmQ9Xk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/qEiAinPtUR0" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-25T11:33:49-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=446038 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/446038/who_s_jailing_journalists http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/nnTAAXWTXgA/george_tiller_healthcare_provider http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/445842/george_tiller_healthcare_provider <p> Rare in the news coverage of the murder of Dr. George Tiller were the voices of physicians who referred patients to him. That's because, in the media, abortion features as an "issue," a battlefront in the culture wars, and only secondarily, if at all, as a medical procedure. The letter below, written by a physician in response to my comment in The Nation on the murder, is a rare exception, shedding light on Dr. Tiller's role as a healthcare provider. Many thanks to Dr. Laurence Burd, its author, for writing it. </p> <p> <blockquote> </p> <p> In his article, "A Culture War Casualty", Eyal Press underscores with accuracy that those who use hateful invectives, should not feign shock or dismay when their message produces murder and violence. This article, however, like the majority of others I have read following the death of George Tiller, MD, is fixated upon the abortion debate and neglects to recognize the real tragedy of Dr. Tiller's loss to the profession of medicine and to the American public. As a practitioner of Maternal Fetal Medicine, I have referred several patients to Dr. Tiller, since he was one of the very few physicians in the country, because of state laws and because of his desire to provide compassionate care, who provided late pregnancy termination services. He was an exemplary physician who believed very strongly in what he was doing. Both women whom I referred to Dr. Tiller's clinic in Kansas were carrying infants with birth defects that were incompatible with survival. One had anencephaly, a condition where a large part of the forebrain was absent, and the second had multiple midline defects, allowing vital organs such as the heart and the abdominal structures to lie outside the fetal body (Pentalogy of Cantrel). Dr. Tiller accepted my referrals graciously, and cared for these women skillfully, and by so doing, ended their risk of further complications inherent in any ongoing pregnancy. As a physician, I believe that the volume of the "abortion debate" has brought silence to the essence of the medical issue, and that is how to provide the best care to our patients. The assassin's bullet not only ended an honorable life, but ended a conduit to provide good medical care to the American public. We all are victims of this terrible, heinous crime. The beliefs of those on each side of the abortion issue will never be resolved. In all my years of medical practice, I have never met a patient who was glad to terminate a pregnancy, but only did so because of an awareness of danger to themselves. We must stop the shouting and name calling that has so divided our society and follow President Obama's suggestions to come together and devote our efforts to decrease the number of abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancies. This seems to be an approach that will end much hatred and violence and will greatly contribute to an improvement in the physical and mental health of all Americans.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/445842/george_tiller_healthcare_provider">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2VFKKv2TtK15HTybx-cB43ddmg4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2VFKKv2TtK15HTybx-cB43ddmg4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2VFKKv2TtK15HTybx-cB43ddmg4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2VFKKv2TtK15HTybx-cB43ddmg4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/nnTAAXWTXgA" height="1" width="1"/> The Nation 2009-06-24T15:50:46-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/?pid=445842 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/445842/george_tiller_healthcare_provider http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Tz33xrR5y80/wewantthepublicoption http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/445721/wewantthepublicoption <p> 'This post was written by <a href="http://www.ohyouprettythings.net/about.html">Sarah Jaffe</a>, a blogger, freelance journalist and Nation intern.' </p> <p> <hr> </p> <p> Seventy-six percent of Americans, according to a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/17/obama-boost-new-poll-show_n_217175.html">recent poll</a>, approve of the health insurance plan that Barack Obama proposed on the campaign trail, which includes a public health insurance option. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/445721/wewantthepublicoption">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wMs5a57Mh8FDf4aFWVdTEWfYaHU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wMs5a57Mh8FDf4aFWVdTEWfYaHU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wMs5a57Mh8FDf4aFWVdTEWfYaHU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wMs5a57Mh8FDf4aFWVdTEWfYaHU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Tz33xrR5y80" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-24T10:50:00-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=445721 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/445721/wewantthepublicoption http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/M2cshaNkEzw/friends_of_the_earth_score_energy_bill_as_step_backward http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445688/friends_of_the_earth_score_energy_bill_as_step_backward <p> The League of Conservation Voters has thrown down the gauntlet in its campaign to win support for the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) when it could see a U.S. House vote as soon as Friday. </p> <p> The politically-potent organization, that has made its endorsement something akin to the Good Housekeeping seal of approval for candidates seeking to position themselves as environmentally sensitive, announced Tuesday that it would not support the reelection of any House member who opposes the measure that it says "has the potential to transform America by creating clean energy jobs, improving our national security, and protecting our planet from global warming pollution." </p> <p> In a letter to House members, LCV President Gene Karpinski wrote, "The stakes could not be higher; a safer, healthier planet and a new energy economy hang in the balance, and it's imperative that members of Congress be on the right side of history."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445688/friends_of_the_earth_score_energy_bill_as_step_backward">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/plGC5XZdMpgVZqlziIjh0Qdy-Nw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/plGC5XZdMpgVZqlziIjh0Qdy-Nw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/plGC5XZdMpgVZqlziIjh0Qdy-Nw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/plGC5XZdMpgVZqlziIjh0Qdy-Nw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/M2cshaNkEzw" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-06-24T08:53:18-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=445688 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445688/friends_of_the_earth_score_energy_bill_as_step_backward http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/S3bRUro3PW8/talking_to_ahmadinejad_part_ii http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445684/talking_to_ahmadinejad_part_ii <p> President Obama has gone about as far as he should go in condemning the government of Iran for its crackdown and repression of a popular movement for change in Iran. Since the election on June 12, his rhetoric has become harsher by the day. Yesterday, he said: </p> <p> <blockquote>The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, the beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions.</blockquote> </p> <p> Don't we all! But it's one thing for a 'Nation' columnist to call the actions by the current Iranian regime disgusting and despicable, as I've done many times, and it's another thing for the president of the United States to do it. Because in the next few months, Obama may very well have to send emissaries to sit down and talk to that very regime. Now that he's condemned the repression, let's hope Obama goes back to his original plan of trying to get Iran to the table.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445684/talking_to_ahmadinejad_part_ii">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PF-bfWtgIhr9kP6W-hsQYAGsv7s/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PF-bfWtgIhr9kP6W-hsQYAGsv7s/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PF-bfWtgIhr9kP6W-hsQYAGsv7s/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PF-bfWtgIhr9kP6W-hsQYAGsv7s/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/S3bRUro3PW8" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-24T08:24:27-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=445684 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445684/talking_to_ahmadinejad_part_ii http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/QwoQPUAQK8Q/coming_up_aces http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/445556/coming_up_aces <p> The Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) seemed to have hit a snag this week. One of the reasons was the opposition of House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson and agribusiness to the EPA -- instead of the USDA -- monitoring agricultural pollution. No agreement has been reached on that issue, but it looks like the bill will make it to the floor on Friday anyway -- even though, as 'CongressDaily' reports, the 218 votes needed to pass it aren't a lock and negotiations continue. </p> <p> Supporters and opponents of the bill are therefore kicking into high gear -- which means facts be damned in the case of the latter. The EPA and CBO have estimated the average household cost of the bill as somewhere <a href="http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=1685:epa-releases-analysis-of-american-clean-energy-and-security-act&amp;catid=122:media-advisories&amp;Itemid=55">between 22 cents and 48 cents per day</a> ($80 to $175 per year) -- without taking into account the benefits of reduced global warming, energy efficiency promotion, or <a href="http://climateprogress.org/2009/06/18/clean-energy-jobs-report/">job creation</a>. But that hasn't stopped Republicans from claiming the cap and trade program will "<a href="http://pr.thinkprogress.org/">cost every American family $3000</a>". They are also, of course, predicting massive job losses and a weak economy -- the same tired line they have used for decades in opposing clean air and clean water laws -- even though history has proven them wrong time and again and this bill would do the same. </p> <p> Clean energy advocates like <a href="http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_060309">NRDC</a>, <a href="https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&amp;page=UserAction&amp;id=2459">Sierra Club</a>, <a href="http://action.1sky.org/t/4153/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1642">1Sky</a>, and <a href="http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5379/t/2457/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1586">Green For All</a> are mobilizing activists to support and strengthen the legislation -- and fight any efforts to weaken it. Some of the issues include possible changes to clean energy incentives, emission reduction goals, the renewable energy standard, enforcement, green job investment in lower income communities, and auctioning pollution credits versus giving them away to polluters. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/445556/coming_up_aces">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bd5JhqOvi8PyN0oWqCLTt0uj7mk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bd5JhqOvi8PyN0oWqCLTt0uj7mk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bd5JhqOvi8PyN0oWqCLTt0uj7mk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/bd5JhqOvi8PyN0oWqCLTt0uj7mk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/QwoQPUAQK8Q" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-23T15:29:19-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=445556 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/445556/coming_up_aces http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/wdzyOVYNUlc/obama_refocus_and_reset http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/445525/obama_refocus_and_reset <p> At a moment when the President is more popular than most of his signature policies, when weak-kneed Democrats threaten to bolt on healthcare reform and hypocritical legislators have turned Iran's election into a political football with little regard for the ramifications of their rhetoric for Iranian protesters, Obama worked hard to use his fourth press conference to refocus and reset the political debate. </p> <p> Keeping his cool (even while sparring with a handful of snarky reporters), Obama displayed moral realism and principled respect for the courage, dignity and sovereignty of the Iranian people. He did what Iranian expert Trita Parsi advised: condemn violence, without picking sides. </p> <p> In his opening remarks, Obama did sound a more impassioned note than at any time since the Iranian election in deploring the violence in the streets of Tehran. "The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions." Yet Obama was careful to continue, " I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not at all interfering in Iran's affairs..... The Iranian people can speak for themselves." He referred again to Dr. Martin Luther King's powerful words, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice," to affirm the belief--as he did in his magnificent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/politics/04obama.text.html">Cairo Speech</a>-- that "suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.....those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/445525/obama_refocus_and_reset">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AoZWtLh9RtpNXzqKt0BXzEYlNak/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AoZWtLh9RtpNXzqKt0BXzEYlNak/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AoZWtLh9RtpNXzqKt0BXzEYlNak/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AoZWtLh9RtpNXzqKt0BXzEYlNak/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/wdzyOVYNUlc" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-23T14:16:07-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=445525 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/445525/obama_refocus_and_reset http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/CWf3IOr_cRo/obama_appalled_and_outraged_with_iran_violence http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445503/obama_appalled_and_outraged_with_iran_violence <p> Barack Obama is a popular president. </p> <p> With an average approval rating of 61 percent in seven polls taken this month, according to <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/23/polls-obamas-approval-rating-holds-steady/">CNN's Poll of Polls</a>, Obama is more popular than George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan was at this point in his presidency. </p> <p> But Obama needs to spend some of that capital, using his personal popularity to pump up support for his more controversial policy initiatives -- especially healthcare and energy reform.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445503/obama_appalled_and_outraged_with_iran_violence">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3C1A013E_jLVeinwepI-mHRPcNA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3C1A013E_jLVeinwepI-mHRPcNA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3C1A013E_jLVeinwepI-mHRPcNA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/3C1A013E_jLVeinwepI-mHRPcNA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/CWf3IOr_cRo" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-06-23T13:02:40-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=445503 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445503/obama_appalled_and_outraged_with_iran_violence http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/7MB-CrdFC1E/around_i_the_nation_i http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/445439/around_i_the_nation_i <p> As I write today, turmoil and violence continue to roil Iran. Our Contributing Editor Robert Dreyfuss was on the ground in Tehran in the days before and after the election. He left Iran but is following the crackdown and protests; you can track breaking news at his blog <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss"> The Dreyfuss Report</a>, and see our slideshow, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/20090706/slideshow_iran"> Iran on the Edge</a>, for images from Tehran. </p> <p> In other news from 'The Nation' this week: Federal authorities in New Orleans have <a href="http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/federal_grand_jury_probes_poss.html">launched an investigation into the mysterious death of Henry Glover</a>, a New Orleans resident who was found burned to death in the days following Hurricane Katrina. Glover's death went unsolved for over three years, until <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090105/thompson2">an expose by reporter A.C. Thompson in 'The Nation' last December</a> (supported by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute) raised serious questions about the incident and the role of New Orleans law enforcement. Six months after Thompson's cover story, new witnesses have come forward and a federal grand jury is hearing testimony from police officers and eye witnesses. </p> <p> The debate over health care is heating up. Over the weekend we launched the first in a summer-long online debate series with 'National Review', with our Washington DC Editor Chris Hayes and the 'Review''s Reihan Salam debating <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090706/debate1_video">whether or not health care is a human right</a>. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/445439/around_i_the_nation_i">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XMRHHK1daXcnsoJXlpyiDKgPtds/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XMRHHK1daXcnsoJXlpyiDKgPtds/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XMRHHK1daXcnsoJXlpyiDKgPtds/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XMRHHK1daXcnsoJXlpyiDKgPtds/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/7MB-CrdFC1E" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-23T09:59:42-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=445439 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/445439/around_i_the_nation_i http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/2epVp2o4qVs/food_inc http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/445316/food_inc <p> There are no seasons in the American supermarket. In <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/">Food, Inc.</a>, filmmaker Robert Kenner explains what this means as he lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, the USDA and FDA. </p> <p> <object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MgHqPTjAzYQ&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/MgHqPTjAzYQ&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> </p> <p> Watch the film, spread the word, <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/sign-the-petition.php">sign the petition</a> to help ensure the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, and check out the film's <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/index.php">website</a> for a range of suggestions on <a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/hungry-for-change-cafeteria.php">how to get involved</a> in the fight against America's corporate controlled food industry. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/445316/food_inc">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MDs4jDVIrHIgYkzs7J-yQDNyUc4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MDs4jDVIrHIgYkzs7J-yQDNyUc4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MDs4jDVIrHIgYkzs7J-yQDNyUc4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/MDs4jDVIrHIgYkzs7J-yQDNyUc4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/2epVp2o4qVs" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-22T15:28:59-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=445316 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/445316/food_inc http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/pnGMFbSBf9w/this_week_on_the_hill http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/445262/this_week_on_the_hill <p> Here's what's happening this week: </p> <p> <blockquote>Congress will begin its July 4 recess at the close of business on Friday -- don't we all wish we could do the same? -- but before it does, it will attempt to make some headway on health care legislation. </p> <p> The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee continues to markup its version of the bill, while according to the 'New York Times' the Senate Finance Committee will be engaged in "<a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/congress-resumes-health-care-review/">intense back-room negotiations</a>". In the House, three committees -- Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor -- will take up the 852-page draft of their joint health care bill. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/445262/this_week_on_the_hill">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dXpMYN0ZfTuKcpAx9yqZAL3O83I/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dXpMYN0ZfTuKcpAx9yqZAL3O83I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dXpMYN0ZfTuKcpAx9yqZAL3O83I/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dXpMYN0ZfTuKcpAx9yqZAL3O83I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/pnGMFbSBf9w" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-22T11:22:24-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=445262 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/445262/this_week_on_the_hill http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/y5pptGcLcoo/supreme_court_pulls_teeth_from_the_voting_rights_act http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445246/supreme_court_pulls_teeth_from_the_voting_rights_act <p> Once an election is done, it is hard to undo. </p> <p> That's true in Iran, and it's also true in the United States. </p> <p> This is why it is important to get the rules by which elections are held right before elections are held.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445246/supreme_court_pulls_teeth_from_the_voting_rights_act">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kfXmUeyuJ_3vYbUtmUJS1hPwrcQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kfXmUeyuJ_3vYbUtmUJS1hPwrcQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kfXmUeyuJ_3vYbUtmUJS1hPwrcQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kfXmUeyuJ_3vYbUtmUJS1hPwrcQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/y5pptGcLcoo" height="1" width="1"/> John Nichols 2009-06-22T10:42:05-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/?pid=445246 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/445246/supreme_court_pulls_teeth_from_the_voting_rights_act http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/c9goOMNjc6M/the_next_explosion_in_iran http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445128/the_next_explosion_in_iran <p> Gunfire, tear gas, and water cannons used by baton-wielding security forces in Iran have forced an uneasy calm on Tehran and other cities, but Mir Hossein Mousavi isn't backing down. And the next explosion could come when the Guardian Council, the twelve-member clerical body assigned the task of reviewing the results of the June 12 election releases its report. By all accounts, the Council -- half of whose members are appointed by, and loyal to, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the other half is nominated by Iran's Parliament and approved by Khamenei -- will ratify President Ahmadinejad's reelection. </p> <p> In today's post I want to focus on the election itself. A <a href="http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/14234_iranelection0609.pdf">newly released statistical study </a>of the rigged election by <a href="http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/">Chatham House</a> raises enormous questions about the validity of the Interior Ministry's reported vote totals. And Mousavi himself is making the point, in detailed fashion, that the vote was bogus. </p> <p> The Chatham House analysis, while wonky and full of detailed charts, provides the clearest evidence yet that Ahmadinejad and Co. rigged the vote.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445128/the_next_explosion_in_iran">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HCdEEQKbzbTjTJyMmNboj2Q5oA0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HCdEEQKbzbTjTJyMmNboj2Q5oA0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HCdEEQKbzbTjTJyMmNboj2Q5oA0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HCdEEQKbzbTjTJyMmNboj2Q5oA0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/c9goOMNjc6M" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-21T11:07:08-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=445128 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445128/the_next_explosion_in_iran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/kBzAHdlN5qI/the_showdown_builds_in_iran http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445027/the_showdown_builds_in_iran <p> Tens of thousands of people <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8111123.stm">appeared on Tehran's streets today</a>, again, despite Ayatollah Khamenei's clear warning that they'd be met with force and violence. </p> <p> According to reports from various quarters, the demonstrators have added a new chant to their repertoire: "Death to Khamenei!" If so, another red line -- and an extremely explosive one -- has been crossed. </p> <p> Thousands of troops from the Revolutionary Guards, the police, and the Basij paramilitary force -- the mosque-based, devout followers of Khamenei -- blockaded Revolution Square in Tehran today, the proposed site of the main opposition gathering, and they used tear gas, metal batons, and water cannons to keep people out of the square.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445027/the_showdown_builds_in_iran">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/khTbjglbKn_19U01YI67hFPxM4I/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/khTbjglbKn_19U01YI67hFPxM4I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/khTbjglbKn_19U01YI67hFPxM4I/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/khTbjglbKn_19U01YI67hFPxM4I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/kBzAHdlN5qI" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-20T14:08:04-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=445027 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/445027/the_showdown_builds_in_iran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/8GHCde2xEo0/for_single_payer_healthcare http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/444726/for_single_payer_healthcare <p> 'This post was written by <a href="http://www.ohyouprettythings.net/about.html">Sarah Jaffe</a>, a blogger, freelance journalist and Nation intern.' </p> <p> <hr> </p> <p> Healthcare reform is on everyone's mind these days. President Obama has repeatedly stressed his desire to <a href="http://www.truthout.org/030509R">bring all interested parties to the table</a> to discuss the options, and even the <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/05/12/healthcare/">insurance companies</a> and the <a href=" http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-ama-healthreform,0,6994144.story ">American Medical Association</a> seem ready to play along. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/444726/for_single_payer_healthcare">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CV0BTxO6cCci1d0qpzEKlhkHyvQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CV0BTxO6cCci1d0qpzEKlhkHyvQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CV0BTxO6cCci1d0qpzEKlhkHyvQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/CV0BTxO6cCci1d0qpzEKlhkHyvQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/8GHCde2xEo0" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-19T13:24:16-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=444726 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/444726/for_single_payer_healthcare http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Ean7aLfOPA4/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/444718/slacker_friday <p> <p> Charles Pierce<br/> Newton, MA. </p> </p> <p> <p> Hey Doc: </p> </p> <p> <p> "There's a man in old Pawtucket/Sells steamed clams by the bucket/So when I want clams in a bucket, I go to old Pawtucket/ 'Cause I'm a hungry man." </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/444718/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WkZT5rKzEANbuV2XWTW-o3YIUkQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WkZT5rKzEANbuV2XWTW-o3YIUkQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WkZT5rKzEANbuV2XWTW-o3YIUkQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/WkZT5rKzEANbuV2XWTW-o3YIUkQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Ean7aLfOPA4" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-19T13:02:19-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=444718 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/444718/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/9trEESPvf1g/the_ayatollah_throws_down_the_gauntlet http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/444679/the_ayatollah_throws_down_the_gauntlet <p> Speaking to a government-organized throng bused in from around Tehran and as far away as Qom, Iran's religious capital, and other cities -- a crowd, no doubt, vastly inflated by dutiful members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the fascist, mosque-based Basij thugs -- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw down the gauntlet against the Green Wave. </p> <p> He said: </p> <p> <blockquote>"Nothing can be changed. It's finished, the Presidential campaign."</blockquote></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/444679/the_ayatollah_throws_down_the_gauntlet">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Sqg9sWbaQrVNVZ0MiMChklte9jw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Sqg9sWbaQrVNVZ0MiMChklte9jw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Sqg9sWbaQrVNVZ0MiMChklte9jw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Sqg9sWbaQrVNVZ0MiMChklte9jw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/9trEESPvf1g" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-19T09:54:49-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=444679 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/444679/the_ayatollah_throws_down_the_gauntlet http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/j7D5h6MS4qo/americans_for_financial_reform http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/444667/americans_for_financial_reform <p> In April, President Obama delivered a speech in which he alluded to the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/427016/obama_s_economic_sermon_on_the_mount?rel=hp_picks">Sermon on the Mount</a> to describe the stronger, more just economy he envisioned: "We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand," he said. "We must build our house upon a rock." </p> <p> But the regulatory reforms he laid out on Wednesday do not fully accord with those eloquent words. Indeed columnist Joe Nocera accurately <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/business/18nocera.html?_r=1">described</a> President Obama's new plan in the 'New York Times' yesterday: "The Obama plan is little more than an attempt to stick some new regulatory fingers into a very leaky financial dam rather than rebuild the dam itself…. Everywhere you look in the plan, you see the same thing: additional regulation on the margin, but nothing that amounts to a true overhaul." </p> <p> Yet, at a time when we are living amid the blowback of an overgrown financial sector that did more harm than good, and we've seen the failure of a whole model of banking -- the Administration has offered some useful reforms. Most promising is the creation of a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/17/AR2009061701834.html?hpid=topnews">Consumer Finance Protection Agency</a>-- the brainchild of <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090309/hayes">Elizabeth Warren</a>. But we don't see the kind of real revamping that is sorely needed. What we really need now -- as Obama himself indicated in April -- is a new foundation for a new economy. That means ensuring -- through tough regulatory reforms that Nocera pointed out would "make some bankers mad" -- that we have a financial sector that is more responsive to the public interest and the real economy; that is a servant, not master, of the people.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/444667/americans_for_financial_reform">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xTYXTpZ2RSRlEzhcd9LyElDQ7K4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xTYXTpZ2RSRlEzhcd9LyElDQ7K4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xTYXTpZ2RSRlEzhcd9LyElDQ7K4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xTYXTpZ2RSRlEzhcd9LyElDQ7K4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/j7D5h6MS4qo" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-19T08:34:19-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=444667 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/444667/americans_for_financial_reform http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/nQIZDOlZKb4/mistah_kurtz_continued http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/444499/mistah_kurtz_continued <p> <p> We've got a new Think Again column called "Chiller, Socialist Theater," about how Obama's turning us Commie, <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/ta061809.html">here</a> and my new 'Nation' column is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of William Appleman Williams' Tragedy of American Diplomacy, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090706/alterman">here</a>. Also, I did an analysis of Bibi Netanyahu's bait-and-switch speech for the Daily Beast <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-14/bibis-bait-and-switch/">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> I was genuinely shocked by Howard Kurtz's defense of CNN in a 'Post' chat, not only because of its incredible lameness, but also because Kurtz did not disclose the fact of his being on CNN's payroll. I wrote a short note to Romenesko's letters column, which he <a href="http://www.poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13963">printed</a>, but did not make notice of on the site, so I sent a slightly different version of it to Andy Alexander, who recently became the 'Washington Post''s ombudsman. I have to say, I'm impressed with his response, which you can find <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ombudsman-blog/2009/06/what_howard_kurtz_didnt_disclo.html">here</a>. What I like about it is not only that it holds Kurtz accountable, (and is generally friendly to me), but because it raises the larger issue of the 'Post''s unwillingness to disclose its conflict-of-interest policies. This is quite important, and goes to the heart of why large news organizations are losing the trust of readers, etc. But these organizations need to keep their options open to retain their big shots who don't like to follow the rules and so they don't want to codify their policies. (See under "Friedman, Thomas.") Alexander explains that the 'Post' policy is under review, which is to the good, but let's see if and when they publish it. He writes: </p> </p> <p> <p> <blockquote>Readers such as Alterman are entitled to know the standards to which The 'Post' holds itself. In a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040303030.html">column</a> several months ago, I wrote: </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/444499/mistah_kurtz_continued">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lb0MJX2RfQz-z2XXVs2gn8_UfhE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lb0MJX2RfQz-z2XXVs2gn8_UfhE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lb0MJX2RfQz-z2XXVs2gn8_UfhE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lb0MJX2RfQz-z2XXVs2gn8_UfhE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/nQIZDOlZKb4" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-18T12:52:52-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=444499 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/444499/mistah_kurtz_continued http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/2ki75eJSQE8/a_very_corrupt_town http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/444243/a_very_corrupt_town <p> I sat down with <b>Jake Blumgart</b> of <a href="http://www.campusprogress.org/">Campus Progress</a> to <a href="http://www.campusprogress.org/5mw/4176/five-minutes-with-christopher-hayes">talk about</a> covering Washington DC. Here's a excerpt of our discussion of legislative battles over the future of the financial industry, which seems particularly germane in light of today's White House announcement of its <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/444216/obama_s_financial_sector_proposals_oversight_v_change">new regulatory initiative</a>: </p> <p> <blockquote><b>It does seem to be harder to rally people around something like temporarily nationalizing the banks. Massive pro-gay rights demonstrations, for example, are couched in terms of human rights, which everyone gets. But banking…</b> </p> <p> That is why they win these battles. There is no mass constituency for re-regulating the banks. It doesn't get people in the [thumps finger on chest]. There are certain political arguments that make your cheeks warm. Those are the things that win elections. It is hard to marshal intensity around systemic risk regulations or temporarily nationalizing the banks. So without a mass constituency it is left to insiders in D.C. That battle isn't even between David and Goliath. It is between Goliath and David's poodle's infant puppy.</blockquote> </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/444243/a_very_corrupt_town">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HDEoibFFlllm7xgqUKaCgBvrSNY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HDEoibFFlllm7xgqUKaCgBvrSNY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HDEoibFFlllm7xgqUKaCgBvrSNY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/HDEoibFFlllm7xgqUKaCgBvrSNY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/2ki75eJSQE8" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-17T15:11:18-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=444243 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/444243/a_very_corrupt_town http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/sBsjp8LqSC0/coin_contradictions http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/444228/coin_contradictions <p> From <b>Greg Kaufmann</b>: <blockquote>One problem with the Obama Administration's "Af-Pak" strategy -- aside from the <a href="http://rethinkafghanistan.com/">lack of an exit strategy</a>, air strikes, and a cost that threatens its domestic agenda -- is the fact that the allotment of resources consistently contradicts General Petraeus' own stated counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy. Petraeus says 80 percent of expenditures should go towards non-military purposes like economic development, and only 20 percent to the military. Yet the $106 billion supplemental <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/443994/war_supplemental_narrowly_passes">approved yesterday by the House</a> handed over nearly 90 percent of the funds to the military. </p> <p> Representative Mike Honda -- Chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus and a Progressive Caucus member -- homed in on that fact in his good statement explaining his vote against the supplemental yesterday (full statement <a href="http://mikehonda.blogspot.com/2009/06/my-vote-on-hr2346-fy09-supplemental.html">here</a>): </p> <p> "… I cannot support the continuation of the Bush Administration's failed modus operandi in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, and the mis-proportioned 90-10 doctrine of assistance allocation – that is, 90% for military investments and only 10% for political, economic, and social development. The Supplemental represented our first opportunity to correct the failed approaches of the past, but we unfortunately did not use this chance."</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/444228/coin_contradictions">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DS7NHLV-3XoWm_YRVi_u9-StyLs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DS7NHLV-3XoWm_YRVi_u9-StyLs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DS7NHLV-3XoWm_YRVi_u9-StyLs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DS7NHLV-3XoWm_YRVi_u9-StyLs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/sBsjp8LqSC0" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-17T14:21:41-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=444228 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/444228/coin_contradictions http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Is6xqYtH8j4/battle_lines_in_iran http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/444147/battle_lines_in_iran <p> Amid scattered deaths and rising protests, the showdown in Iran continues to build. The Iranian regime's crackdown is gathering momentum, with reports of sweeping arrests of opposition figures, militia raids on university campuses, and threats from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that protestors are liable to be executed. (A contingent of pro-Ahmadinejad backers marched in Tehran yesterday, chanting: "Rioters should be executed!") According to Reuters, the Guard statement said: </p> <p> <blockquote>"We warn the few elements controlled by foreigners who try to disrupt domestic security by inciting individuals to destroy and to commit arson that the Islamic penal code for such individuals waging war against God is execution."</blockquote> </p> <p> Of course, the "elements" are hardly "few," they are not "controlled by foreigners," and their actions have been overwhelmingly nonviolent, dignified, and restrained rather than trying to "destroy" and "commit arson." Yet the threat is plain.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/444147/battle_lines_in_iran">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fRSuqrPQdTiHcEWCwg-msTVIPkY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fRSuqrPQdTiHcEWCwg-msTVIPkY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fRSuqrPQdTiHcEWCwg-msTVIPkY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/fRSuqrPQdTiHcEWCwg-msTVIPkY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Is6xqYtH8j4" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-17T09:22:59-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=444147 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/444147/battle_lines_in_iran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/Vs7FuPWJ_sk/blood_in_iran http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/444012/blood_in_iran <p> The government of Iran swiftly kicked the machinery of repression into high gear over the last several days in response to the largest anti-government demonstrations since 1979, when millions protested the tyrannical Shah. </p> <p> One day after eight protesters were shot dead during a huge demonstration against President Ahmadinejad's <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/443907/talking_to_ahmadinejad">disputed re-election</a>, the regime barred all foreign journalists from the streets of Tehran in a move that gives the security forces much more freedom to crush dissent with overwhelming force. </p> <p> The regime also blocked an attempt to repeat Monday's massive rally in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the former Prime Minister, who claims that he was cheated of victory last Friday by widespread vote-rigging.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/444012/blood_in_iran">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XJmIF3Ry_gb8jaNjuRjI3OD-FiY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XJmIF3Ry_gb8jaNjuRjI3OD-FiY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XJmIF3Ry_gb8jaNjuRjI3OD-FiY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/XJmIF3Ry_gb8jaNjuRjI3OD-FiY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/Vs7FuPWJ_sk" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-16T18:35:28-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=444012 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/444012/blood_in_iran http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/T-T2UTbScR8/war_supplemental_narrowly_passes http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/443994/war_supplemental_narrowly_passes <p> Just a few minutes ago, the Obama Administration's $106 billion war supplemental passed on the House floor by <a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll348.xml">a vote of 226-202</a>. Congressional Democrats who oppose military escalation were in a tough position. They were whipped aggressively by both <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/06/16-2">Speaker Pelosi</a> and the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/white-house-browbeats-dem_n_214870.html">White House</a>. And they support President Obama. </p> <p> Which is exactly why they did the right thing in voting no. </p> <p> President Obama himself has said, "There's got to be an exit strategy." Yet we are sliding into a military escalation and commitments without a full and necessary national debate about the ends, means, or exit strategy for this war.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/443994/war_supplemental_narrowly_passes">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QSwbP4aZ0nHwFHfSv8FpJ3a6KUY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QSwbP4aZ0nHwFHfSv8FpJ3a6KUY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QSwbP4aZ0nHwFHfSv8FpJ3a6KUY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QSwbP4aZ0nHwFHfSv8FpJ3a6KUY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/T-T2UTbScR8" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-16T18:04:20-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=443994 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/443994/war_supplemental_narrowly_passes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/gs7HRcIln9Q/talking_to_ahmadinejad http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/443907/talking_to_ahmadinejad <p> Now comes the hard part. </p> <p> When I left Tehran early Monday morning, I felt guilty. Guilty because I was leaving behind the faces of the hundreds of people I talked to, met with, had tea with, and interviewed who were backers of the failed presidential campaign of Mir Hossein Mousavi. In their faces, in their eyes, I saw the hope of a new Iran. They told me, passionately, that wanted freedom -- yes, freedom from the requirement of the 'hijab', but more important, freedom of expression, to speak freely, to have an independent media, to create works of art that don't have to be reviewed by the know-nothings of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. </p> <p> So what's the hard part? The fact that the United States is going to have to talk with the regime of President Ahmadinejad. And not only talk, but make a deal.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/443907/talking_to_ahmadinejad">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_-5w2MF_yQA77E2jiEeoWonLW5s/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_-5w2MF_yQA77E2jiEeoWonLW5s/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_-5w2MF_yQA77E2jiEeoWonLW5s/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_-5w2MF_yQA77E2jiEeoWonLW5s/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/gs7HRcIln9Q" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-16T13:44:55-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=443907 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/443907/talking_to_ahmadinejad http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/uqAhxiMYJAY/how_to_help_end_the_war_s http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/443689/how_to_help_end_the_war_s <p> <a href="http://firedoglake.com/">FireDogLake</a> founder Jane Hamsher is devoting herself to persuading 39 progressive Democrats to oppose the $106 billion <a href="http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&amp;docID=cqmidday-000003142525">2009 war supplemental bill</a> for the wars in Iraq and Af-Pak and to bailout European banks through the IMF. Arrayed against her, the Obama administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are aggressively whipping House Democrats to support the legislation. </p> <p> The <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/443260/why_vote_yes_for_the_war_and_the_imf">opposition</a> has been successful so far and <a href="http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/06/12/updated-supplemental-whip-count-we-have-34-of-the-39-votes-we-need/">35 of the necessary 39 members have already pledged to vote no</a>. Moreover, a number of Blue Dog Democrats have <a href="http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/06/15/ann-kirkpatrick-leaning-no-rahm-losing-blue-dogs-on-supplemental/">their own reasons</a> for opposing the bill. </p> <p> Watch Hamsher's video, produced by the Brave New Foundation, to see why the stakes are so high and what you can do to help.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/443689/how_to_help_end_the_war_s">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/roDBfdfKvq3tVQll69uQZrrpJ_A/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/roDBfdfKvq3tVQll69uQZrrpJ_A/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/roDBfdfKvq3tVQll69uQZrrpJ_A/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/roDBfdfKvq3tVQll69uQZrrpJ_A/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/uqAhxiMYJAY" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-15T14:25:05-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=443689 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/443689/how_to_help_end_the_war_s http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/m3zEPFlVbkg/this_week_on_the_hill http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/443645/this_week_on_the_hill <p> A preview from <b>Greg Kaufmann</b>: <blockquote>This week, the Obama Administration will try once again to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/white-house-browbeats-dem_n_214870.html">push through</a> the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/443260/why_vote_yes_for_the_war_and_the_imf">$106 billion war supplemental</a>. Opposition is much stronger than anyone anticipated, with most <a href="http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/06/12/updated-supplemental-whip-count-we-have-34-of-the-39-votes-we-need/">antiwar Democrats</a> maintaining their stance, and House Republicans opposing $5 billion to boost IMF lending. In the Senate, Senators Lieberman, McCain and Graham have threatened to shut down business if there aren't assurances that photos of detainee abuse won't be released. Now is a good time for you to <a href="http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/">let your legislators know where you stand</a> on this. The House is expected to vote on Tuesday. </p> <p> We should see some more definition around healthcare legislation this week -- specifically on the question of whether the Senate will offer a public plan option? The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will markup its version tomorrow, while the Senate Finance Committee releases a draft on Wednesday. Finance Chair Max Baucus continues to pledge that he will have a bipartisan bill -- somewhat disturbing since Republican Committee members are united in their opposition to a public plan option to compete with private insurers. (Nothing like a little Senate chumminess and political cowardice to kill <a href="http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?ContentID=423&amp;ParentID=0&amp;SectionID=66&amp;SectionTree=66&amp;lnk=b&amp;ItemID=421">needed reform</a>.) President Obama is in Chicago this afternoon speaking to the American Medical Association which also opposes the public plan option. </p> <p> The administration will release its plan for <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061402443.html">reforming financial regulation</a> this week. Smart money is on something rather underwhelming, brought to you courtesy of Geithner-Summers Inc. 'CongressDaily' does report, however, that the Administration will support <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090309/hayes">TARP Oversight Chair Elizabeth Warren's</a> plan for a Consumer Product Safety Commission to regulate financial products -- so that's a piece of good news. Secretary Geithner will appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday and House Financial Services on Thursday.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/443645/this_week_on_the_hill">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KbAXMBOkhTVkd5C_B-9mM3jp8YY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KbAXMBOkhTVkd5C_B-9mM3jp8YY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KbAXMBOkhTVkd5C_B-9mM3jp8YY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KbAXMBOkhTVkd5C_B-9mM3jp8YY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/m3zEPFlVbkg" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-15T12:34:21-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=443645 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/443645/this_week_on_the_hill http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/mC21io7EjAA/kill_the_ffel http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/443626/kill_the_ffel <p> 'This post was written by ex-Nation intern and freelance writer Corbin Hiar</A>.' </p> <p> One important policy issue that has been knocked down the legislative agenda by all the discussion regarding healthcare reform and the financial and auto bailouts is the urgent need to reform the higher education loan and financial aid systems. </p> <p> The system is clearly broken. Student loans should create opportunities for the young, not cripple them for life. As Act Now! <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/431769/pell_grants_get_some_stimulus">detailed in April</a>, the proposal laid out in President Obama's ambitious budget could power up the Pell Grant program sufficiently to make a real difference. In addition to protecting Pell Grant scholarships from politicized annual funding debates, <a href="http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2009/02/chairman-miller-lauds-presiden.shtml">President Obama's higher education budget proposal</a> seeks to increase government loan origination through the highly successful Direct Loan Program and end the sweetheart subsidies the private student loan industry currently enjoys via the wasteful Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/443626/kill_the_ffel">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zX2UzotNFkWExfJn8zUbzyy_aKE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zX2UzotNFkWExfJn8zUbzyy_aKE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zX2UzotNFkWExfJn8zUbzyy_aKE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zX2UzotNFkWExfJn8zUbzyy_aKE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/mC21io7EjAA" height="1" width="1"/> Peter Rothberg 2009-06-15T11:48:46-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/?pid=443626 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/443626/kill_the_ffel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/uE8ONUEZS38/just_say_no_to_empire http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/443615/just_say_no_to_empire <p> Reihan and I <a href="http://tv.nationalreview.com/offthepage/post/?q=YjZkYmUwYTlkYjY5Yjc5M2JjYjljYmVhODI3NzkxMjM=">debate</a> the role of the United States as the global cop. </p> <p> I've been trying to accrue more expertise and deeper understanding of the US military's role in the world and the degree to which our national security state delivers what its supporters claim. I'm working on a feature about some of these issues, so this debate was a good opportunity to engage some of the more thoughtful . Also: I had to look up the definition of <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brigandage">brigandage</a> after we'd finished, but this often happens to be after conversations with Reihan. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/443615/just_say_no_to_empire">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2JiqPI8BMXE0_WrQRZuttbSqHL8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2JiqPI8BMXE0_WrQRZuttbSqHL8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2JiqPI8BMXE0_WrQRZuttbSqHL8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/2JiqPI8BMXE0_WrQRZuttbSqHL8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/uE8ONUEZS38" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-15T11:17:35-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=443615 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/443615/just_say_no_to_empire http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/dSv-S0gayRg/leveraging_inside_outside_power http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/443603/leveraging_inside_outside_power <p> When it comes to the big issues of our time -- like healthcare, energy and climate change, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and building a more just economy -- I've long believed it will require a strong <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090615/borosage_kvh">inside-outside strategy</a> to push progressive solutions through Congress. That's why I was so pleased when Darcy Burner was recently named <a href="http://ourfuture.org/news-release/2009041724/darcy-burner-named-executive-director-american-progressive-caucus-policy-fou">Executive Director</a> of <a href="http://www.progressivecongress.org/">ProgressiveCongress.org</a>. (Full disclosure: I'm a board member.) </p> <p> The organization's purpose is to bring together progressives both inside and outside of Congress to craft strong policies and work cooperatively to implement them. Burner knows the grassroots, netroots, and political landscape as well as anyone, and her close Congressional races in Washington state against a Republican incumbent in 2006 and 2008 are a testament to that fact. A former Microsoft manager, she was also the architect of the "<a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/303650/more_democrats_say_end_the_war_restore_checks_and_balances">Responsible Plan to End the War In Iraq</a>". </p> <p> Last month, ProgressiveCongress.org asked people to submit and vote on <a href="http://feedback.progressivecongress.org/pages/18732-healthcare-may-21-2009">questions regarding healthcare reform</a> via its website. Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) then <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk_n865ifJE">answered the questions</a> on the House floor, where proceedings are broadcast on C-SPAN and entered into the Congressional Record.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/443603/leveraging_inside_outside_power">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0K5eNgoYG_6hUj0m_2zXMjozng/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0K5eNgoYG_6hUj0m_2zXMjozng/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0K5eNgoYG_6hUj0m_2zXMjozng/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/D0K5eNgoYG_6hUj0m_2zXMjozng/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/dSv-S0gayRg" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-15T10:39:40-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=443603 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/443603/leveraging_inside_outside_power http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/TTbEeGiZJmM/iran_s_ex_foreign_minister_yazdi_it_s_a_coup http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/443348/iran_s_ex_foreign_minister_yazdi_it_s_a_coup <p> It's Saturday afternoon in Tehran, and the streets are generally quiet. But the aftermath of Iran's rigged election, in which radical-right President Ahmadinejad and his paramilitary backers were kept in office, has left Iran's capital steeped in anger, despair, and bitterness. </p> <p> Last night, after the polls closed, heavily armed troops from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were in evidence in the streets. In one area of north Tehran, where backers of opposition challenger and reformist ex-Prime Minister Mousavi are concentrated, I saw a convoy of at least fifteen military vehicles filled with armed guards idling along the side of the road. The street in front of the Interior Ministry, where votes are counted, is blocked and heavily guarded after rumors that Mousavi supporters might gather there to protest the election count. </p> <p> Mousavi himself has pledged to fight the verdict, using words like "tyranny" and adding, "I will not surrender to this dangerous charade." </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/443348/iran_s_ex_foreign_minister_yazdi_it_s_a_coup">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FdZSaFZP0TPJ1hP0xPtRb7Zvk_4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FdZSaFZP0TPJ1hP0xPtRb7Zvk_4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FdZSaFZP0TPJ1hP0xPtRb7Zvk_4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FdZSaFZP0TPJ1hP0xPtRb7Zvk_4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/TTbEeGiZJmM" height="1" width="1"/> Robert Dreyfuss 2009-06-13T07:24:25-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/?pid=443348 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/443348/iran_s_ex_foreign_minister_yazdi_it_s_a_coup http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/o4yBNg4lsSI/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/443316/slacker_friday <p> Wrap-up: We've got a new Think Again column called "Sotomayor and SCOTUS, Captured on a Carousel of Time" about the punditocracy confirmation hearings <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/ta061109.html">here</a>. And I did a post for The Daily Beast on the recent metzora-making of Joe "The Volcano" Lieberman <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-09/joe-the-volcano/">here</a>. </p> <p> <big><b>Alter-reviews:</b></big> </p> <p> <b>Sal on 'Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm'</b></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/443316/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jZISUPX7q89Mb8YkX82njZog2Uk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jZISUPX7q89Mb8YkX82njZog2Uk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jZISUPX7q89Mb8YkX82njZog2Uk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/jZISUPX7q89Mb8YkX82njZog2Uk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/o4yBNg4lsSI" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-12T17:31:19-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=443316 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/443316/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/qVh2tpw5-BQ/calling_mr_colbert http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/442955/calling_mr_colbert <p> <p> We've got a new Think Again column called "Sotomayor and SCOTUS, Captured on a Carousel of Time" about the punditocracy confirmation hearings <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/ta061109.html">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> And I did a post for The Daily Beast on the recent metzora-making of Joe "The Volcano" Lieberman <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-09/joe-the-volcano/">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> Now this... </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/442955/calling_mr_colbert">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/trwd1w34saDkg3pSXdYucT3gGSA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/trwd1w34saDkg3pSXdYucT3gGSA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/trwd1w34saDkg3pSXdYucT3gGSA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/trwd1w34saDkg3pSXdYucT3gGSA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/qVh2tpw5-BQ" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-11T11:38:18-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=442955 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/442955/calling_mr_colbert http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/twBnFKX8XS8/around_the_nation http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/442446/around_the_nation <p> Last week in 'The Nation', investigative reporter <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090615/ballve">Teo Ballve exposed a stunning lapse in American foreign policy</a>: USAID's "Plan Colombia" appears to be subsidizing drug traffickers. Although USAID insists that it has done nothing wrong, Balleve's investigation suggests that taxpayer funds are allowing Narcotraffickers to cultivate biofuels on stolen, contested land. It's a disturbing story, and while it hasn't taken off here in the States it made the front page of Colombia's newspaper of record, El Tiempo. <a href="http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/justicia/empresa-de-macaco-se-colo-entre-beneficiarias-de-plata-del-plan-colombia_5327467-1">The link is here (in Spanish)</a>. Here is <a href="http://airamerica.com/content/jack-rice-american-connection-columbia">a great interview with Teo</a> from the Jack Rice Show, from Air America and other stations nationwide. </p> <p> <embed id="listen-mp3-player" class="audio" src="http://airamerica.com/mediaplayer.swf" width="300" height="15" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="enablejs=true&amp;width=300&amp;height=15&amp;autostart=false&amp;file=http://airamerica.com/ondemand/play/104889.mp3" style="display: block;" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" /> </p> <p> We're hopeful that more attention on this important story will yield some action and a change in USAID policy.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/442446/around_the_nation">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f52KP-oqC3IWwXeDYI2ZsZBatSc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f52KP-oqC3IWwXeDYI2ZsZBatSc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f52KP-oqC3IWwXeDYI2ZsZBatSc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f52KP-oqC3IWwXeDYI2ZsZBatSc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/twBnFKX8XS8" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-09T18:01:41-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=442446 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/442446/around_the_nation http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/bcuO-avNqoc/this_week_on_the_hill http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/442029/this_week_on_the_hill <p> A preview from Greg Kaufmann: </p> <p> <blockquote>The Administration has had a far tougher time passing the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/07/obama-could-be-handed-fir_n_212367.html">$96 billion war supplemental</a> than anyone anticipated. At play is opposition to escalation, a $108 billion line of credit for the IMF, and a Lieberman amendment that allows Defense Secretary Gates to withhold detainee photos as he sees fit. Great time to <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/5/739159/-Stop-the-War-Supplemental">tell your reps</a> how you want them to vote. </p> <p> Healthcare talks continue in Senate Finance and also Health, Education, Labor &amp; Pensions Committees this week. Look for Democrats on both committees to release more details on the kind of legislation they want to introduce -- it remains to be seen if a public plan option will be included and, if so, <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/440938/a_seat_at_the_table_for_single_payer">how strong it will be</a>. (Here's a disturbing <a href="http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/06/06/is_public_health_care_option_on_the_ropes.html">quote</a> from Robert Reich on that front.) 'CongressDaily' reports that Ways and Means Chair Charlie Rangel will lay out his framework for healthcare on Tuesday to the Democratic Caucus. House Energy and Commerce and also Labor and Education committees will have a hand in the House legislation as well.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/442029/this_week_on_the_hill">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/E31G2tSMwXrYBRCmLqaoHTj8RPU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/E31G2tSMwXrYBRCmLqaoHTj8RPU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/E31G2tSMwXrYBRCmLqaoHTj8RPU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/E31G2tSMwXrYBRCmLqaoHTj8RPU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/bcuO-avNqoc" height="1" width="1"/> Christopher Hayes 2009-06-08T13:07:30-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/?pid=442029 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/442029/this_week_on_the_hill http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/M2bZCv1yNR4/time_for_a_new_round_of_stimulus http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/441525/time_for_a_new_round_of_stimulus <p> <p> "We might be witnessing the mother of all jobless recoveries." </p> </p> <p> <p> That's how economist Bernard Baumohl described <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/business/economy/06jobs.html?_r=1&amp;hp">today's jobs report</a> to the 'New York Times'. </p> </p> <p> <p> While there were "only" 345,000 jobs lost last month--as compared to 504,000 in April--the report doesn't account for the upcoming job losses as well as the ripple effect that will result from the GM bankruptcy. Nor does it reflect the severe budget shortfalls states continue to face. It did, however, <a href="http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/jobspicture20090605/">reveal</a> a continued collapse of wage growth, the highest unemployment rate in 25 years, and the loss of 156,000 manufacturing jobs. </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/441525/time_for_a_new_round_of_stimulus">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-9bb30rOk5iV9ao51n5Cc5qzbbs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-9bb30rOk5iV9ao51n5Cc5qzbbs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-9bb30rOk5iV9ao51n5Cc5qzbbs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-9bb30rOk5iV9ao51n5Cc5qzbbs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/M2bZCv1yNR4" height="1" width="1"/> Katrina vanden Heuvel 2009-06-05T16:37:25-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/?pid=441525 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/441525/time_for_a_new_round_of_stimulus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/SeUjrJNFL5E/slacker_friday http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/441424/slacker_friday <p> <p> <b>Weekly Wrap-up:</b> </p> </p> <p> <p> Our new "Think Again" column, "The Surprising Success of the Right-Wing Rant," is <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/ta060409.html">here</a>. It's an exploration of the weird success of the right's hysterical racist and sexist attacks on Sonia Sotomayor in setting the MSM's agenda for their coverage. </p> </p> <p> <p> I also did two columns this week for 'The Daily Beast'; one this morning about Osama's attempts to link Obama to George W. Bush, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-04/osama-steals-from-obamas-playbook/%20">here</a> and <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-02/the-truth-about-abortion/?cid=bsa:moreauthor1">one</a> on the success of the Christian Right in this country in preventing access to abortion, even without murdering the doctors who perform it. My 'Nation' column on the campaign to smear Izzy Stone is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090622/alterman">here</a> with a follow-up in yesterday's Altercation, which is <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/441016/smearing_izzy_continued_continued">here</a> (after the wrap-up). </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/441424/slacker_friday">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iJ_5dURzyJNQkPxtXGtwuJVLlrc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iJ_5dURzyJNQkPxtXGtwuJVLlrc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iJ_5dURzyJNQkPxtXGtwuJVLlrc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iJ_5dURzyJNQkPxtXGtwuJVLlrc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/SeUjrJNFL5E" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-05T13:23:52-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=441424 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/441424/slacker_friday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/DF3OWpTKkNU/smearing_izzy_continued_continued http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/441016/smearing_izzy_continued_continued <p> <p> Our new "Think Again" column, "The Surprising Success of the Right-Wing Rant," is <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/ta060409.html">here</a>. It's an exploration of the weird success of the right's hysterical racist and sexist attacks on Sonia Sotomayor in setting the MSM's agenda for their coverage. </p> </p> <p> <p> I also did two columns this week for 'The Daily Beast'; one this morning about Osama's attempts to link Obama to George W. Bush, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-04/osama-steals-from-obamas-playbook/%20">here</a> and <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-02/the-truth-about-abortion/?cid=bsa:moreauthor1">one</a> on the success of the Christian Right in this country in preventing access to abortion, even without murdering the doctors who perform it. </p> </p> <p> <p> Regarding my 'Nation' column <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090622/alterman">here</a>, the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen Square puts me in mind of the death of I.F. Stone, which happened right around the same time. It was one of Izzy's charms that it is entirely believable that, while in a hospital in Boston where he would finally give out, he awoke briefly from a lengthy period of unconsciousness to ask his doctors about the fate of the young protesters there. (His opposition to Chinese Communist oppression was of a piece with his brilliant exposes of the abuses of Soviet psychiatry at the end of his six days career. These do not of course "make up" for the mistakes he made defending Stalin half a century earlier, but they do provide context for those who would paint his politics as monochromatic.) </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/441016/smearing_izzy_continued_continued">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-aT1Qq2qzlUFn8myjFMZR66nM9Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-aT1Qq2qzlUFn8myjFMZR66nM9Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-aT1Qq2qzlUFn8myjFMZR66nM9Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-aT1Qq2qzlUFn8myjFMZR66nM9Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/DF3OWpTKkNU" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-06-04T12:56:49-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=441016 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/441016/smearing_izzy_continued_continued http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/wuvMMZOW_hQ/anti_choice_terrorism http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/440459/anti_choice_terrorism <p> There were lots of young people in the crowd, and at the microphone, for Monday evening's spirited rally in Union Square to honor Dr. George Tiller. It was quite a contrast with the last gathering occasioned by the murder of an abortion provider, the candlelight vigil at Columbus Circle in l998, after the murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian. Back then, the crowd was small and middle-aged and rather dispirited. This time, people were awake and angry. <p> It's about time. Time to demand federal legal protection for abortion rights. Time to demand that law enforcement take seriously the violent anti-abortion underground. Time for doctors to show some spine, defend their colleagues who perform this necessary service to women and reintegrate abortion into normal medical practice. Time for women to come out of the closet and talk about their abortions, so that people will realize that the woman who terminates a pregnancy is their wife, their mother, their sister, their friend. <p> </p> <p> It's time, too, to stop the pretense that the "debate " over abortion consists of two equally extreme positions, and that wisdom resides in the mushy middle, where everybody disapproves of abortion except when they want one for themselves or someone they care about. There's only one set of extremists here, the one that uses language like "babykiller," " Nazi," "murderer," and "death mill," kidnaps and murders providers and clinic workers,burns and bombs clinics and drives cars into them, posts pictures of clinic workers and their families on the internet, and harrasses patients on their way to get care. <p> Only one side writes like this about the murder of Dr. Tiller: <p> "But I also know joy. Not the shallow type of joy but a deep resonating joy. I feel joy that no longer will this wicked man slay the judicially innocent. I feel joy because justice, albeit of a rough variety, was visited on someone who so thoroughly opposed a culture of life and who worked so assiduously to spread the culture of death. I know joy because the truth of Scripture that those who take up the sword shall die by the sword is seen as authoritative. I know joy because I know that no longer will Dr. Tiller be sucking out the brains of people, or torturing people with saline or dismembering people in utero. How could a sane person not feel joy at the death of a mass murderer and a terrorist?" </p> <p> <a href="http://backwaterreport.com/?p=1079">backwaterreport/Covenant News</a> <p> That's Bret MacAtee, Michigan pastor and Constitution Party activist. <p> People mock the word "choice" --it's consumerist, euphemistic, wimpy, calculated. But one thing you can say for it: It honors the individual conscience. If a desperately ill pregnant woman wants to risk her life to give birth, if she wants to carry an anencephalic fetus to term so it can die in her arms, or have her rapist's baby, or become a mother at 14, or produce octuplets, pro-choicers are not going to compel her to abort. Pro-choicers don't go around lecturing girls and women that they will blame themselves forever if they have a baby they may not be equipped to raise well. They don't paint gory pictures of the horrors and dangers of childbirth to scare pregnant girls and women into ending their pregnancies with a quick and safe termination. They don't tell women Jesus is going to send them to Hell if they sacrifice their futures to the whims of a wayward sperm -- although they might mention from time to time that the Bible nowhere mentions abortion. Pro-choicers don't blow up churches or assassinate the leaders of Operation Rescue. <p> Only one side wants to force women to live by its so-called morality, and only one side murders and bombs to make its point. Only one side has a terrorist wing. <p> In the days to come, let the public discussion acknowledge that. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/440459/anti_choice_terrorism">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/H0SZI1OhsH-qjhRTQJxeGuuhEwQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/H0SZI1OhsH-qjhRTQJxeGuuhEwQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/H0SZI1OhsH-qjhRTQJxeGuuhEwQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/H0SZI1OhsH-qjhRTQJxeGuuhEwQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/wuvMMZOW_hQ" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-06-03T07:23:18-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=440459 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/440459/anti_choice_terrorism http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/KIDVRSa3cfk/blues_for_new_orleans http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/439305/blues_for_new_orleans <p> <p> We've got a new Think Again column called "Cheney's Post Presidency" <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/05/ta052809.html">here</a> and I did a "Welcome to Washington" post for Mr. Abbas for The Daily Beast this morning <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-28/abbas-comes-to-washington/.">here</a>. </p> </p> <p> <p> (And while we have your attention, don't miss the great Charles Pierce on the great Steve Earle singing the music of the great Townes van Zandt <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090608/pierce">here</a>. Pierce and the rest of the mail will be here tomorrow and don't miss the documentary Bill Moyers is showing this weekend, listed below. And if I were you, I'd also catch the PBS showing of the Clapton/Winwood concert at the Garden tonight, unless you're planning to buy it, as I did.) </p> </p> <p> <p> In the meantime... </p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/439305/blues_for_new_orleans">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acYQ95Rd7KDoEatY9Yv_X3TzSQk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acYQ95Rd7KDoEatY9Yv_X3TzSQk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acYQ95Rd7KDoEatY9Yv_X3TzSQk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/acYQ95Rd7KDoEatY9Yv_X3TzSQk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/KIDVRSa3cfk" height="1" width="1"/> Eric Alterman 2009-05-28T14:15:00-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/?pid=439305 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/altercation/439305/blues_for_new_orleans http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/uFfmCWoeQOw/obama_s_100_day_hope_check http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/428763/obama_s_100_day_hope_check <p> Are Barack Obama's  supporters wondering where the hope went? Does the campaign now seem only a golden dream? After all, Obama's been in the White House for over three months, and people are still losing jobs and houses, US troops are still overseas, single-payer health care is still not on the agenda.  Surely the President should have fixed all that by now with the power of his mighty hope machine. </p> <p> In her current <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090504/klein">'Nation' column</a>, Naomi Klein claims that disillusion is setting in. She has a  clever list of  words to describe the phenomenon: Hopefiends feel hopebreak which will (hopefully) lead to hopelash, "a 180-degree reversal of everything Obama-related." Enough of these cowardly compromises! Back to the streets!  </p> <p> I have a lot of respect for Naomi Klein, but I think her own hopes for  a mass radical movement are getting in the way here. According to polls, after all, Obama is wildly popular.  <a href ="http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-0/1239096290272770.xml&amp;storylist=national&amp;thispage=1">A Harris Interactive poll</a> released on April 7 found that 68% of Americans  have a good opinion of him. That doesn't necessarily mean they approve of everything he's doing, but it means that a heck of a lot of people who didn't vote for him like him now.    Is there any evidence that "a growing number of Obama enthusiasts are starting to entertain the possibility that their man is not, in fact, going to save the world if we all just hope really hard"? And by the way, did anyone over the age of  21 ever really believe this? That hope, an emotion, was going to "save the world," the way  children clapping their hands saves Tinkerbell? Are Americans really such idiots? Hmmm, better not answer that.   <p>Naomi and I must talk to different people. For example, I don't know anyone as stupid as the hopefiendish "Joe" who "actually believes Obama deliberately brought in Summers so that he would blow the bailout, and then Obama would have the excuse he needs to do what he really wants: nationalize the banks and turn them into credit unions." Think what you're saying, Joe! Had Obama intentionally put in someone he knew would fail, he would not only be a clairvoyant and a psychopath-- callously indifferent to the ruin of possibly millions of people--  he'd also be risking political suicide. Because had he first chosen a course he knew would fail he would not have the political capital to "what he really wants."  <p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/428763/obama_s_100_day_hope_check">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pbZfe8Ljqq-zd6H6Fk-gJ5pGnHo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pbZfe8Ljqq-zd6H6Fk-gJ5pGnHo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pbZfe8Ljqq-zd6H6Fk-gJ5pGnHo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pbZfe8Ljqq-zd6H6Fk-gJ5pGnHo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/uFfmCWoeQOw" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-04-20T17:49:55-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=428763 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/428763/obama_s_100_day_hope_check http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/SZ8KAFSg3vM/get_rid_of_bush_s_last_minute_hhs_regulation http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/425177/get_rid_of_bush_s_last_minute_hhs_regulation <p> Thursday, April 9th, is the deadline for comments on the proposed rescission of the Bush administration's last-minute HHS regulation expanding provider "conscience" clauses to allow just about any health worker to deny contraceptive services to women. Under this vague, confusing rule, a pharmacist could refuse to fill a birth-control prescription, and also refuse to get another pharmacist to do so. A nurse could refuse to give emergency contraception to a rape victim, and give her a lecture about "babykilling." Abortion clinics would be forced to hire, and retain, personnel who refused to carry out the very duties they were hired to perform. Nor does the regulation stop there. Conceivably, a health-care worker could refuse to care for a gay, lesbian or transsexual person, on the grounds that to do so would violate their religious beliefs. </p> <p> The law already provides "reasonable accomodation" for religious beliefs, by the way. This regulation is just President Bush's farewell gift to the religious right. It only takes a few minutes to encourage President Obama to return that gift to the store. </p> <p> (Thanks to intrepid reporter Cynthia Cooper for the heads up.) </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/425177/get_rid_of_bush_s_last_minute_hhs_regulation">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwvVXcZKpWNtZ4qvv-F0_PPaygQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwvVXcZKpWNtZ4qvv-F0_PPaygQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwvVXcZKpWNtZ4qvv-F0_PPaygQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AwvVXcZKpWNtZ4qvv-F0_PPaygQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/SZ8KAFSg3vM" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-04-08T08:57:57-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=425177 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/425177/get_rid_of_bush_s_last_minute_hhs_regulation http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/FweAPSicxoA/from_my_inbox_wrrap_says_thanks_update http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/423009/from_my_inbox_wrrap_says_thanks_update <p> Despite hard times which have made philanthropy hard for many, readers responded to the appeal in my last post for donations for the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, which helps low-income women from all over the country access abortion care. Here's an e mail I received from WRRAP yesterday, with some details about the situations of the women they've been able to help, thanks to you. </p> <p> Too often, the debates surrounding abortion obscure the women themselves. Right now, for example, we are hearing a lot from pundits like Will Saletan, who argues that women have unwanted pregnancies because they are careless about contraception, conjuring up a picture of lackadaisical sluts who just can't be bothered to take their pill. Real life is more complicated: chaotic lives, poverty, social isolation, lack of regular access to health care, ignorance, misinformation, drugs, alcohol, male violence and hopelessness all play a part, along with the simple facts that every method has a failure rate and nobody's perfect. Similarly, it is hard for some people to imagine women so poor that they cannot come up with, let's say, $500 for a first-trimester abortion -- don't they have friends? won't the man help? Can't they just put it on a credit card? Hello, this is a country where millions rely on food stamps and soup kitchens! Where people can't pay their utilities or their rent! </p> <p> The descriptions of WRRAP clients below are a tiny window into the struggles of low-income women. More information, and a donation button, can be found at <a href="http://www.wrrap.org">www.wrrap.org</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/423009/from_my_inbox_wrrap_says_thanks_update">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bg-qG-LTEZoSfq_-5wuNDGb5DJA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bg-qG-LTEZoSfq_-5wuNDGb5DJA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bg-qG-LTEZoSfq_-5wuNDGb5DJA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Bg-qG-LTEZoSfq_-5wuNDGb5DJA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/FweAPSicxoA" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-03-31T15:53:37-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=423009 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/423009/from_my_inbox_wrrap_says_thanks_update http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/bDB97tFTUPk/national_day_of_appreciation_for_abortion_providers http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/415640/national_day_of_appreciation_for_abortion_providers <p> March 10th is National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers, and man oh man could they use some love. Obama's victory may protect Roe v Wade in the Supreme Court, but state legislatures are doing their best to pile on the obstacles and restrictions: mandatory ultrasounds are the latest fad, with bills being considered in eleven states ( because apparently women are so stupid they might not realize they're having an abortion because they're pregnant). And then, as Michael Winerip reported in an unusually thorough<a href= "http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/fashion/08generationb.html?scp=1&amp;sq=winerip&amp;st=cse"> piece </a> in Sunday's New York Times (in the Style section, sigh, along with the rest of the girlynews), the women's health activists who form the backbone of many clinic staffs are retiring and proving hard to replace in the more conservative and rural regions, like upstate New York, the South and Midwest. Doctors, nurses and technicians are reluctant to work in clinics in anti-choice places where they will be picketed, socially ostracized and forced to protect themselves daily against possible violence. Low pay is another factor: anti-choicers love to talk about abortion as a business, but adjusted for inflation, the price of a first trimester abortion is about what it was thirty years ago, although security-related costs have skyrocketed -- one reason why clinic staffers make about half what they would in another specialty. </p> <p> Will the next generation step up to the plate? Sally Burgess, head of the National Abortion Federation, thinks that growing up with legal abortion, too many lack "the fire in the belly." Then too, med school policies mean only a small proportion of medical students are even learning how to perform this relatively simple procedure. </p> <p> You can show your support for the selfless people who make more than words on a page by making a donation to <a href="http://www.wrrap.org"> the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP)</a> , an all-volunteer group which helps low-income girls and women around the country pay for their abortion care. As the economy sinks and unemployment rises, more and more women will find themselves both needing to terminate a pregnancy and unable to come up with the cost. Help WRAPP be there for clinics and for women.</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/415640/national_day_of_appreciation_for_abortion_providers">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s8pSG08vQ6VagLligXclclD3A7Y/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s8pSG08vQ6VagLligXclclD3A7Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s8pSG08vQ6VagLligXclclD3A7Y/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s8pSG08vQ6VagLligXclclD3A7Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/bDB97tFTUPk" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-03-09T14:00:14-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=415640 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/415640/national_day_of_appreciation_for_abortion_providers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/V5NytDKEtho/open_letter_to_defend_shirin_ebadi http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/412134/open_letter_to_defend_shirin_ebadi <p> <p>From the Campaign for Peace and Democracy comes this open letter in defense of Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate and defender of women's rights and human rights.I think it does an excellent job of disentangling support for human rights in Iran from the bellicosity that sometimes accompanies it. In fact, as Shirin Ebadi herself told Amy goodman (Democracy Now, February 4, 2009)</p> <p class="blockquote"> "A military attack on Iran or even a threat of a military attack on Iran will deteriorate the situation of human rights and women's rights, because it gives an excuse to the government to repress them more and more often." </p> <p> You can add your name or make a tax-deductible donation to publicize the statement atthe<a href= "http://cpdweb.org/"> Campaign for peace and Democracy</a> website. Problems? E mail the CPD at cpd@igc.org. </p> <p> IRANIAN HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER SHIRIN EBADI IN DANGER Peace Activists Call on Teheran to Ensure Her Safety </p> <p> To: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Ayatollah Shahrudi, Head of the Judiciary Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Islamic Republic of Iran </p> <p> We are writing to protest in the strongest terms the threats that have been mounted against Shirin Ebadi, co-founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center and the Organization for the Defense of Mine Victims. Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate, has spoken out vigorously and repeatedly for women's rights and human rights for all in her own country. She has also been a vocal and effective advocate for peace and against military attacks on Iran in international forums. </p> <p> Ebadi today is in considerable danger. On December 21, 2008, officials prevented a planned celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and forced the closure of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), which Ebadi helped found. The Center provides legal defense for victims of human rights abuses in Iran. The group had invited nearly 300 human rights defenders and supporters to the private celebration. A few hours before the start of the program, members of state security forces, and plainclothes agents entered the DHRC building. They filmed the premises, made an inventory, and forced the center's members to leave before putting locks on all entrances.</p><p>On December 29 officials identifying themselves as tax inspectors arrived at Ebadi's private law office in Tehran and removed documents and computers, despite her protests that the materials contained protected lawyer-client information.</p> <p> Ebadi's former secretary has been arrested, and on January 1, 2009 a mob of 150 people gathered outside her home, chanting slogans against her. They tore down the sign to her law office, which is in the same building, and marked the building with graffiti. The police, who have been quick to close down unauthorized peaceful demonstrations, did nothing to stop the vandalism.</p> <p> In similar cases, Iranian authorities frequently have followed office raids and other harassment with arbitrary arrests and detention, often leading to prosecutions on dubious charges</p><p>As peace activists, we have a special concern for Shirin Ebadi. Ebadi has spoken out, as we have, against any U.S. military attack on Iran. In 2005, Ebadi wrote, "American policy toward the Middle East, and Iran in particular, is often couched in the language of promoting human rights. No one would deny the importance of that goal. But for human rights defenders in Iran, the possibility of a foreign military attack on their country represents an utter disaster for their cause." ("The Human Rights Case Against Attacking Iran" by Shirin Ebadi and Hadi Ghaemi, The New York Times, Feb 8, 2005).</p><p> We oppose any military attack on Iran by the United States or any other nation. We reject too the hypocrisy of the U.S. government when it protests repression in Iran while turning a blind eye to or actively abetting comparable or worse repression in countries with which it is allied like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or Israel in the Occupied Territories. And we condemn as well Washington's double standard in criticizing Iranian repression while itself engaging in torture and undermining civil liberties at home. But that in no way deters us from protesting in the strongest terms the denial of basic democratic rights to the people of Iran. We protest because we believe in these rights, and also because we see social justice activists in Iran and all countries as our natural allies in building a peaceful, democratic world.</p> <p>We call on you to cease and desist from the threats to Shirin Ebadi, to move immediately to prevent any further harassment, and to ensure Shirin Ebadi's safety and security. </p> <p> INITIAL SIGNERS Ervand Abrahamian, Janet Afary, Michael Albert, Kevin B. Anderson, Bettina Aptheker, David Barsamian, Rosalyn Baxandall, Medea Benjamin, Michael Bérubé, Norman Birnbaum, Eileen Boris, Roane Carey, Joshua Cohen, Noam Chomsky, Gail Daneker, Manuela Dobos, Ariel Dorfman, Martin Duberman, Carolyn Eisenberg, Jethro Eisenstein, Zillah Eisenstein, Daniel Ellsberg, Jodie Evans, Gertrude Ezorsky, Samuel Farber, John Feffer, Barry Finger, Joseph Gerson, Jill Godmilow, Arun Gupta, Thomas Harrison, Nader Hashemi, Adam Hochschild, Nancy Holmstrom, Doug Ireland, Melissa Jameson, Jan Kavan, Nikki Keddie, Leslie Kielson, Ian Keith, Kathy Kelly, Assaf Kfoury, Naomi Klein, Dan La Botz, Joanne Landy, Jesse Lemisch, Sue Leonard, Mohammed Mamdani, Betty Mandell, Marvin Mandell, Kevin Martin, Scott McLemee, David McReynolds, Ali Moazzami, Claire G. Moses, Molly Nolan, David Oakford, Bertell Ollman, Christopher Phelps, Charlotte Phillips MD, Katha Pollitt, Danny Postel, Dennis Redmond, Sonia Jaffe Robbins, Matthew Rothschild, Jason Schulman, Stephen Shalom, Adam Shatz, Alice Slater, Stephen Soldz, Stephen Steinberg, David Swanson, Chris Toensing, David Vine, Lois Weiner, Naomi Weisstein, Reginald Wilson, Kent Worcester, Stephen Zunes</p></p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/412134/open_letter_to_defend_shirin_ebadi">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pmkZDS18F72mksEMLT8ADnuCH6g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pmkZDS18F72mksEMLT8ADnuCH6g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pmkZDS18F72mksEMLT8ADnuCH6g/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pmkZDS18F72mksEMLT8ADnuCH6g/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/V5NytDKEtho" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-02-26T11:38:40-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=412134 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/412134/open_letter_to_defend_shirin_ebadi http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/tyo3mtGLTng/this_week_s_woman_we_love_to_hate http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/408570/this_week_s_woman_we_love_to_hate <p> Just in time for the Big Recession comes Nadya Suleman, the unemployed single mom with six kids under the age of seven plus a complete set of octuplets and no more sense than a goldfish. Must there always be an woman whose out-of-control female body gives us something to gawk at? Step aside, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Palin (remember all that ridiculous conspiracy theorizing about her baby really being Bristol's?), Jessica Simpson's weight and the endless procession of celebrity baby bumps. Photos of Suleman's naked grotesquely distended pregnant belly rule the internet, along with much speculation about her resemblance to Angelina Jolie (plastic surgery?), her finances (unclear), the father (mysterious) and the fertility doctor who violated professional guidelines by implanting so many embryos in her (time to regulate!). </p> <p> Suleman, who says she's only trying to make up for her lonely childhood, seems completely insane to me. Indeed, she's been treated for a variety of psychiatric conditions. But she's obviously not too crazy to try to seize the day. She hired a pair of publicists who gave new meaning to the word "chutzpah." In response to a horrified editorial in USA Today,they wrote that she would raise her children in a "caring, Christian home" with the help of that child-raising village Hillary Clinton likes to talk about. They've even set up a website where said villagers can send good wishes, cash and presents. A caring, Christian home! Take that Phyllis Chesler, who, mistakenly identifying Suleman's father as Palestinian (he's Iraqi), wonders if she'll "become a poster child/mother for....free baby formula and diapers? Or for Jihad?" Here in the US, it's Christian fundamentalists like those in the Quiverfull movement who think God put women on earth to breed armies of the faithful. </p> <p> I've received a number of e mails urging me to defend Suleman on feminist grounds. But really, there is nothing feminist about borrowing all this trouble. We're supposed to be reasonable creatures, remember? Talk about giving single mothers by choice a bad name! Suleman seems to have combined an extraordinary degree of planning for conception with no realistic planning for childraising. If the Suleman house was a daycare center it would be illegal. Even if all the octuplets are healthy, a big assumption, the fact that three of her six older kids are receiving disability payments from the state of California -- one is autistic, the others have undisclosed problems -- underscores how hard it will be to give all these kids the attention they need. Just helping an autistic child to thrive is a huge amount of work all by itself. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/408570/this_week_s_woman_we_love_to_hate">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KmY90US0G74IkbrwQmNKxOomWd0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KmY90US0G74IkbrwQmNKxOomWd0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KmY90US0G74IkbrwQmNKxOomWd0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/KmY90US0G74IkbrwQmNKxOomWd0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/tyo3mtGLTng" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-02-15T13:56:24-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=408570 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/408570/this_week_s_woman_we_love_to_hate http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/AhXumD_ZSC8/today_s_the_day_to_donate_to_tom_geoghegan http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/407327/today_s_the_day_to_donate_to_tom_geoghegan <p> Have you been wondering about the best possible moment to donate to the campaign of progressive labor lawyer/ writer/ activist Tom Geoghegan? As you may know, he's running in the Democratic primary for Rahm Emanuel's seat in Congress. Well, it's today. Midnight tonight, February 11, is the FEC filing deadline for campaign contributions. </p> <p> Why does this deadline matter? A strong showing encourages donations from those who've been waiting to see if the campaign has legs. It also attracts press. So far, none of the candidates have gotten much attention in the local media -- you could help change that. </p> <p> Even a small donation, added to others, really helps. So don't be shy, visit </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/407327/today_s_the_day_to_donate_to_tom_geoghegan">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kxW1qxCuui_sccDeRKfZbxWsxbo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kxW1qxCuui_sccDeRKfZbxWsxbo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kxW1qxCuui_sccDeRKfZbxWsxbo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/kxW1qxCuui_sccDeRKfZbxWsxbo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/AhXumD_ZSC8" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-02-11T14:51:05-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=407327 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/407327/today_s_the_day_to_donate_to_tom_geoghegan http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/1zyG1tUVXZM/from_my_inbox_update_on_dr_susan_wicklund_s_clinic http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/406318/from_my_inbox_update_on_dr_susan_wicklund_s_clinic <p> The Mountain Country Women's Clinic in Livingston MT has been open for one week. There were 51 picketers, and patients from hundreds of miles away. That tells you that for all the talk about how there are "too many abortions," right now in much of the country clinics are too few and too far between. </p> <p> It's not too late to Pledge-a-Picketer, a peaceful, nonviolent, amusing way to show your support for Dr. Wicklund's commitment to help women regardless of their ability to pay. It's a scandal that she needs to spend precious funds on a security system, but that's the world we live in -- her previous clinic was targeted by an arsonist. Set your own rate -- a dollar? a quarter? Even a postcard of support would be nice. </p> <p> (Want to read the post of which this is an update? If Nation blogs were designed like 99 percent of the blogs in the world, you'd just scroll down. But for some reason ours are designed so that you have to click on the blog title, in this case And Another Thing, which will bring you to the intro paragraphs of earlier posts, which you can then click on to get the whole story. Exhausting,I know.)</p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/406318/from_my_inbox_update_on_dr_susan_wicklund_s_clinic">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iu400vc1_KioxR1qDMBAWGZUGiY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iu400vc1_KioxR1qDMBAWGZUGiY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iu400vc1_KioxR1qDMBAWGZUGiY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iu400vc1_KioxR1qDMBAWGZUGiY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/1zyG1tUVXZM" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-02-08T10:12:29-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=406318 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/406318/from_my_inbox_update_on_dr_susan_wicklund_s_clinic http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~3/JNBj_sTX4-Q/from_my_inbox_pledge_a_picket_for_new_clinic_in_montana http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/405272/from_my_inbox_pledge_a_picket_for_new_clinic_in_montana <p> Dr. Susan Wicklund, whose 2008 book 'This Common Secret,' detailed her life as an abortion provider, has just opened a clinic in Livingston, Montana. Even before it opened on February 2nd, the clinic was being picketed by opponents of abortion rights. In the mail below, Wicklund's co-author, Montana writer Alan Kesselheim, explains how you can turn their protests peacefully against them. (I've pledged $1 per picketer. That puts me in a slightly weird position: Do I hope lots show up so the clinic gets plenty of cash, or few show up so that I can save mine?) If you want to pledge, e mail Martha_Kauffman@msn.com. </p> <p> Dear Friends of Dr. Susan Wicklund: </p> <p> As most of you know, Susan Wicklund has been hard at work trying to open a women's reproductive health clinic in the Bozeman/Livingston area. It has not been easy. It has taken several years. Deals have fallen through because word leaked out and landowners were intimidated by violent threats. Other potential arrangements have collapsed due to financial difficulties, political controversy, or simple logistics. </p> <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/405272/from_my_inbox_pledge_a_picket_for_new_clinic_in_montana">Read More ...</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-T5GmKiE2vEd5MeQndS9ZSUtD4Y/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-T5GmKiE2vEd5MeQndS9ZSUtD4Y/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-T5GmKiE2vEd5MeQndS9ZSUtD4Y/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-T5GmKiE2vEd5MeQndS9ZSUtD4Y/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheNationWeblogs/~4/JNBj_sTX4-Q" height="1" width="1"/> Katha Pollitt 2009-02-04T17:27:00-04:00 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/?pid=405272 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/405272/from_my_inbox_pledge_a_picket_for_new_clinic_in_montana