Adam Serwer

Brian Tashman pokes fun at a conservative columnist who concludes that the Founding Fathers were a key element of the liberal fascist conspiracy: Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government of America was very weak – which was a good thing. It was true then, and it’s true now: You can have a strong […]

I want to co-sign Ta-Nehisi Coates’ approval of Melissa Harris-Perry properly contextualizing the history of the wealth gap between whites and nonwhites while subbing for Rachel Maddow: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy I would have gone farther than Harris-Perry, though. During the so-called age of liberal consensus, the […]

I meant to respond to this earlier this week, but I think the notion that al-Qaeda is on the verge of defeat would best be taken with more than a grain of salt. As Daveed Gartenstein-Ross points out, we’ve heard this before — government officials have been periodically writing al-Qaeda’s obituary since 2003: President Bush […]

My post at Greg’s today, about that fact that both parties’ austerity plans will likely hurt the economy: From the point of view of helping the economy recover, this is idiotic. For Republicans, of course, increased unemployment and lower GDP increase the possibility of Obama being a one term president. The reason few people are […]

The Shariah panic folks are taking hard the news that the alleged Oslo terrorist was a white anti-Muslim extremist who shared their views in a variety of ways. But I’m not sure anyone is having as much trouble as the Center for Security Policy’s Frank Gaffney, whose website summarized yesterday’s show thusly: In his 1,500 […]

On Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper sent a letter to Senate Republicans defending their decision to transfer alleged al Shabaab member Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame to U.S. soil for trial in federal court. Among the reasons cited is that establishing […]

Well that was quick: “I probably needed to add a few words after that ‘it’s fine with me’ and that it’s fine with me that a state is using their sovereign rights to decide an issue,” he said. “Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me. My stance hasn’t changed.” Perry said he supported changing […]

Private Nasser Jason Abdo, a Muslim soldier who recently applied for conscientious objector status because he said his religion prohibited him from killing other Muslims, was arrested on allegations of planning a second attack on Fort Hood. He was reportedly found with explosives in his car.

Bill Nye the Science Guy schools a Fox News anchor who tries to use Moon volcanoes to disprove climate change on Earth: He’s so reasonable about it, despite the brief, annoyed crinkle in his forehead.

Ta-Nehisi Coates takes on the Obama administration’s disdain for the “professional left.” Obama has been much praised for the magnanimity he shows his opposition. But such empathy, unburdened by actual expectations, comes easy. More challenging is the work of coping with those who have the disagreeable habit of taking the president, and his talk of […]