Dana Goldstein

RUSSIAN KIDS LEARN PUTIN ROCKS. The Bush years have sucked, but at least American text books aren’t edited by the current administration. According to the Washington Post, Russian history and social studies text books “reflect the themes dominating official political discourse here: that Putin restored Russian strength and built what the Kremlin calls a ‘sovereign […]

VOTING REFORM NOT UNTIL 2012. Another strange effect of the earlier primary schedule: House Democrats say they’ve given up on the idea that electronic voting systems can be overhauled in time for the 2008 presidential election. Instead of switching from computerized machines to hand-marked ballots scanned optically, the new, scaled-back goal is to have all […]

HOW NOW TO END THE WAR? If you want a great run-down of the legislative prospects for redeploying troops now that GOP Senators have rejected one good faith attempt, check out Spencer Ackerman‘s reporting and analysis at TPM. Spencer concludes that Republicans are planning to finally change course in September, when General Patraeus makes his […]

FINDING STRENGH IN WEAKNESS. Nicolaus Mills‘s article today comparing Elizabeth Edwards‘s grace in publicly facing breast cancer to FDR‘s strength in disability is very moving. The FDR memorial on the Tidal Basin here in Washington, D.C. is, I think, the most progressive landmark in the city, filled with anti-poverty, pro-peace messages. FDR’s civil rights record […]

BUSH TO SENATE: LEAVE THE KIDS BEHIND. The president has rejected a bipartisan proposal to offer health insurance to 3.3 million low-income children for the cost of $35 billion over 5 years. The plan was to raise the funds by increasing the tax on cigarettes. But Bush objected: I think it’s going to be very […]

OBAMA A “MODERATE DEMOCRAT?” That’s how Planned Parenthood understood him during his time in the Illinois legislature, according to reporting from ABC News. With the organization’s blessing, Obama voted “present” rather than “no” when it came time to oppose a “partial birth abortion” ban and parental notification requirements for minors seeking abortion. Thanks to Lynn […]

EDWARDS ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS. I’ve criticized John Edwards for talking a lot about inequality and poverty without mentioning public schools. This week, Edwards is reversing that trend, articulating a three-point plan for integrating schools in the wake of the Supreme Court decision declaring Seatle’s race-based integration model unconstitutional: 1. Give bonuses to schools in affluent […]

NFL STAR ACCUSED OF ANIMAL CRUELTY. In this piece I wrote last month, I poked fun at Dennis Kucinich for devoting a section of his congressional website to the link between human violence toward animals and violence toward other humans. Obviously though, there can be a connection, which is why today’s story about Atlanta Falcons […]

HILLARY AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD. It was all about “we” last night as Hillary Clinton took her turn before Planned Parenthood. Elizabeth Edwards listed Bush administration outrages against reproductive health and provided a litany of policy solutions. Barack Obama talked about coming to “compromise” by shifting the debate form divisive abortion politics to broad support for […]

FAMILY-FRIENDLY/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH. Ezra is right, of course, to point out that Karen Kornbluh/Barack Obama‘s ideas about work-life balance are excellent. And Obama is right to link family planning to family-friendly policies. People are better able to take care of planned families, so the government has an active interest in supporting access to contraception and abortion. […]