June 2007

The Most Activist Court
How should progressives think about and respond to the assaults of the Roberts Court? Here are three quick and simple suggestions.
June 29, 2007 | By Simon Lazarus | web only

September Comes Early
This fall was expected to be Moment of Truth time for Bush's Iraq policy. But GOP defections are already happening, and the summer isn't nearly over yet.
June 29, 2007 | By Terence Samuel | web only

War's Reverberations, at Home and on Stage
New plays are exploring the impact on the home front of casualties in Iraq.
June 29, 2007 | By Alexandra Poolos | web only

Scalia and Thomas: Originalist Sinners
How Thursday's ruling on school integration gives the lie to the two justices' supposedly devout "originalism."
June 29, 2007 | By Scott Lemieux | web only

Race, Gender, and the Politics of Segregation
What the Supreme Court's school desegregation ruling could mean for women's rights.
June 29, 2007 | By Allison Stevens | web only

Globalization's Stir-Fry
How the new global economy flips, reverses, scrambles, and perverts long-accepted notions and arguments about American business.
June 29, 2007 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

Overvaluing American Values
The trouble with making "values" the lodestar of our foreign policy.
June 28, 2007 | By Ezra Klein | web only

Former Prisoners Reforming Prisons
Politicians and correctional officials are recognizing that, in conversations about prison reform, they must include the voices of those who have lived it.
June 28, 2007 | By Beth Schwartzapfel | web only

Life After the GOP Congress
Santorum, Allen, Weldon, Burns, Pombo -- Where are they now? Checking up on the '06 Republican losers.
June 27, 2007 | By Zack Pelta-Heller | web only

The Pot, the Kettle, and the Heritage Foundation
A recent event at the right-wing think tank -- on the pernicious influence of liberal 501(c)(3)s -- came straight out of the department of glass houses and the throwing of stones.
June 27, 2007 | By J. Lester Feder | web only

Bush's Loyal Mess
The Bush years have shown us the downside of loyalty.
June 27, 2007 | By Paul Waldman | web only

Court's Ruling Won't Limit Christian Hate Speech
The Christian Right is concerned that yesterday's Supreme Court decision on student speech will restrict high-schoolers' ability to spread anti-gay messages. But they've got nothing to worry about.
June 26, 2007 | By Sarah Posner | web only

Global Warming in an Age of Energy Anxiety
Why progressives should shift the emphasis from regulation to investment in their political and policy approach.
June 26, 2007 | By Peter Teague and Jeff Navin | web only

Flirting With Liquid Coal
Democratic voters want a clean break with the Bush administration's focus on subsidizing dirty energy. The party's two front-runners might want to listen.
June 26, 2007 | By Glenn Hurowitz | web only

When The Levee Breaks News
A new satirical tabloid gets New Orleans residents to see the humor in their situation while also holding local officials accountable.
June 25, 2007 | By Marj Halperin | web only

Because Someone Had to Do It
TAP talks to Afghan women's rights activist Malalai Joya, who was suspended from her own position in Parliament last month. A new documentary, Enemies of Happiness, tracks her 2005 run for public office.
June 25, 2007 | By Anthony Kaufman | web only

Plan B on Israel-Palestine
Ignoring Hamas and Gaza isn't going to work. Herein, a three-part plan to address the current crisis and relaunch a viable peace process.
June 22, 2007 | By Daniel Levy | web only

Mighty, But Muted
A Mighty Heart tells Mariane Pearl's wrenching story with taste and skill -- but perhaps too much restraint.
June 22, 2007 | By Sudhir Muralidhar | web only

Auditing the War
Claire McCaskill, who has Harry Truman's old Senate seat, returns from Iraq with some blunt talk on the war and contracting abuse.
June 22, 2007 | By Terence Samuel | web only

Why Michael Moore Is Good for Your Health
The provocateur's new movie, Sicko, takes aim at our broken health care system.
June 22, 2007 | By Ezra Klein | web only

Second Tier Candidates, First Rate Ideas
Long-shot Democratic candidates are the ones taking a stance on many worthy, yet unsung, policy problems. Front-runners, pay attention.
June 22, 2007 | By Dana Goldstein | web only

Card Check's Reality Check
Why the Employee Free Choice Act would do a whole lot more to address Americans' economic anxieties than a fence on the border.
June 21, 2007 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

Playing with Fire
As Forest Service funding decreases and McMansion subdivisions spread into forested areas, wildfires are becoming more dangerous -- and more common -- than ever before. But political momentum for a saner wildfire policy could help.
June 21, 2007 | By Josh McDaniel | web only

The Best Idea for Reducing Global Warming
It's not a carbon tax and it's not a cap-and-trade system. It's a carbon auction.
June 20, 2007 | By Robert B. Reich | web only

The Party of No Ideas
The quest for the GOP presidential nomination has been remarkable in its utter lack of substance, even by the low standards of political campaigns. What accounts for the vacuousness?
June 20, 2007 | By Paul Waldman | web only

Whither Palestine?
Recent violence in the Palestinian territories means that the goal of an independent state has became more remote than at any time since the second intifada.
June 20, 2007 | By Daoud Kuttab | web only

The Good News for Gay Rights
Victories won by "undemocratic" courts -- like the Massachusetts Supreme Court, which legalized gay marriage in 2003 -- haven't produced the backlash that many pundits expected.
June 19, 2007 | By Scott Lemieux | web only

Equal Pay Reality Check
Now that the Supreme Court has gutted pay discrimination law, it's up to Congress to ensure that employers don't get away with paying women or minorities less.
June 19, 2007 | By Kay Steiger | web only

The Future of Anti-Gay Activism
The Christian Right is recruiting black pastors to make the case that equating gay rights with civil rights is an affront to African Americans.
June 18, 2007 | By Sarah Posner | web only

Scooter Libby: Best Samaritan Ever
Mulling a pardon, Mr. President? Just remember, Libby attended a friend's bachelor party and spoke at his neighbor's book club.
June 15, 2007 | By Steven White | web only

Not Dead Yet
Last week was hardly the last we'll hear of the immigration bill during this Congress. The Senate just works slowly -- as it's supposed to.
June 15, 2007 | By Terence Samuel | web only

Sarkozy the Savvy
How Sarkozy turned a relatively narrow presidential election victory into a commanding parliamentary majority in just a month.
June 15, 2007 | By Judah Grunstein | web only

Robo-Tripping at Abu Ghraib
Soldiers' videos and photos show how obscene games and simulated violence became part of everyday life and led to a culture of abuse in Iraq's detention facilities.
June 15, 2007 | By Tara McKelvey | web only

Belated Justice for Civil Rights Era Crimes
A movement for remediation finally gains ground.
June 14, 2007 | By Benjamin Greenberg | web only

Let's Get Serious
What do liberal hawks actually want to do regarding Iran? They refuse to say. How serious is that?
June 14, 2007 | By Ezra Klein | web only

At the Justice Department, Stuff Happens
A shrug in the face of condemnation, and a refusal to act on behalf of swindled Enron shareholders. Just another day at the DoJ.
June 14, 2007 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

How the Military Commissions Obscure Gitmo's Real Purpose
Focusing on the troubled commissions only distracts observers from confronting the truth about Guantanamo Bay: that the vast majority of its detainees will never face a trial of any kind.
June 14, 2007 | By Jonathan Hafetz | web only

The Year that Never Ended
1967 was the year that Israel, and the Mid-East, changed. As Tom Segev shows, the country still lives with the consequences, forty years later.
June 13, 2007 | By Jo-Ann Mort | web only

Religion and the Threat Effect
Research shows that the more secularists there are living near evangelicals, the more politically conservative those evangelicals will be.
June 13, 2007 | By Paul Waldman | web only

Under Lock and Key
The powerful new book by journalist Sasha Abramsky captures madness and fury in the American criminal justice system.
June 12, 2007 | By Silja J.A. Talvi | web only

Suburban Cowboys
As smart growth gains ground among academics and activists, conservatives are whipping themselves up into a frenzy over the perils of what they term "anti-sprawl policy."
June 12, 2007 | By Ben Adler | web only

New Attention Paid to an Old Crime of War
Thanks to years of lobbying by local and international women's NGOs, the International Criminal Court is finally beginning to prioritize prosecuting mass rape.
June 11, 2007 | By Alyson Zureick | web only

The GOP's Lonely Anti-War Candidate
Meet Congressman Ron Paul -- staunch libertarian, outspoken critic of American imperial hubris, and Republican presidential contender.
June 11, 2007 | By Zack Pelta-Heller | web only

Trading on Migrant Labor
Why we won't be able to enact true immigration reforms until we re-examine our trade policies.
June 11, 2007 | By David Bacon | web only

Pro Con
Oceans Thirteen manages to avoid threequel-itis by conning movie-goers with its charm.
June 8, 2007 | By Noy Thrupkaew | web only

Lawrence Wright's Trip to al-Qaeda
The Looming Tower author has turned his extensive journalistic investigations of terrorism and radical Islam into a powerful stage play.
June 8, 2007 | By Suzanne Charle | web only

Good Riddance to Petty Distractions
Two scandalous individuals reappeared in the headlines this week: Bill Jefferson and Scooter Libby. The presence of both does more to obscure than reveal important issues.
June 8, 2007 | By Terence Samuel | web only

Hillary and the Chick Factor
The Clinton campaign woos young women voters at an event in D.C. -- and illustrates the significance of the gender gap in the Democratic field.
June 8, 2007 | By Dana Goldstein | web only

Huddled Masses ... of Software Engineers?
The trouble with the new immigration bill's emphasis on educated professionals and engineers.
June 7, 2007 | By Robert B. Reich | web only

What the New U.S.-Russia Fight is Really About
The dispute over missile defense reflects a deeper conflict over Eastern Europe -- and the need to take Russia seriously again as a regional power.
June 7, 2007 | By Robert Farley | web only

Iraq as South Korea?!
Desperate times breed desperate analogies -- and comparing an indefinite U.S. occupation of Iraq to the American presence in South Korea is at once daft and revealing.
June 7, 2007 | By Harold Meyerson | web only

Rendered Speechless
Looming in the background of a recent meeting on terrorism in Italy: CIA officers may soon be put to trial for seizing a terror suspect in Milan.
June 7, 2007 | By Tara McKelvey | web only

The Dumb Show in New Hampshire
At yesterday's Republican presidential primary debate in Manchester, ignorance was bliss.
June 6, 2007 | By Jon Margolis | web only

A Nation Running on Empty
TAP talks to James Scurlock, director of the acclaimed documentary about the credit industry, Maxed Out, out this week on DVD.
June 6, 2007 | By Elizabeth Henderson | web only

Aiding and Abetting Egyptian Repression
Why Congress should use American foreign aid to Egypt as leverage for reform.
June 6, 2007 | By Shadi Hamid | web only

Hugo Chavez's Television Crisis
The Venezuelan government recently took over the nation's most popular TV station. How legitimate was the move?
June 6, 2007 | By Dorothy J. Kronick | web only

When the Presidential Hopefuls Talk to God
As the Democratic contenders laid bare the details of their faith at a "religious left" forum last night, they showed how faith-based forces frame our politics.
June 5, 2007 | By Adele M. Stan | web only

The Case Against Mandates
Individual mandates are all the rage among progressive health policy experts. Too bad they're a terrible idea.
June 5, 2007 | By Matthew Yglesias | web only

Is There a Nationalist Solution In Iraq?
The sectarian conflict rages. But under the radar, a coalition of nationalist elements is emerging.
June 5, 2007 | By Robert Dreyfuss | web only

Wolf Blitzer Aims Low
In the Democratic presidential primary debate in New Hampshire, CNN aimed for grade-school name-calling.
June 4, 2007 | By Jon Margolis | web only

Where's Obama's Mandate?
Why an individual mandate is a crucial element of any universal health care plan -- and why Obama should rethink his own plan because of it.
June 4, 2007 | By Len M. Nichols | web only

The Fight for the Minimum Wage
State legislatures are hard at work gutting recently passed minimum wage hikes.
June 4, 2007 | By Paul Sonn | web only

Northern Exposure
Michael Chabon's wild and brilliant new novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, sets a noirish murder mystery in the alternate reality of a Jewish safe haven in Alaska.
June 1, 2007 | By Erica Lipper | web only

The Moment of Disillusion
The anti-war movement's anger is understandable -- but the danger of over-reaction is serious.
June 1, 2007 | By Terence Samuel | web only