The Editors

Paul Waldman wonders why, if McCain is so knowledgeable about terrorism, his actual position is so divorced from the facts on the ground: Given the propaganda value of the war and the way al-Qaeda has become a franchise operation, it isn’t surprising that the last few years have seen a huge increase in terrorist attacks. […]

Aziz Huq writes that the greatest critic of Justice Antonin Scalia‘s recent opinion on guns is… Antonin Scalia: Consider first the two opinions’ methodologies. In the Guantánamo case, Scalia accuses his colleagues of having “blatantly misdescribe[d]” a key precedent and of having misread history. Yet in Heller, Justice Scalia simply discarded the key 1939 precedent […]

Dean Baker and Robert Kuttner debate how to deal with the housing crisis: Baker: Unfortunately, these sleepwonkers are still designing policy. Their current bailout proposal, the Dodd-Frank bill, would help many of the banks whose bad lending practices fueled the bubble. It will do little to help the homeowners and communities most affected. Kuttner: However, […]

Ilan Goldenberg writes that talking to Iran is not as controversial as people seem to think: If two years ago you were to tell me that the Democratic presidential nominee would make engaging with Iran a central element of his campaign, I would have thought you were joking. After all, talking to a country that […]

Today on TAP Online we have two pieces about attempts to smear Michelle Obama and, by extension, her husband. Paul Waldman looks at conservative efforts to use her to stoke racist sentiments: Let’s remember why some conservatives were briefly so enamored of Barack Obama: because, in right-wing eminence grise William Bennett‘s words, “he never brings […]

Today on TAP Online we have not one, not two, but three articles from our latest print issue: Ann Friedman argues that, historic though her candidacy certainly was, Hillary Clinton isn’t enough to change our political culture: But those who would agree with the statement, “We need more women in positions of political power” — […]

Robert Kuttner‘s piece from the last print issue wonders why the media is stuck on a simplicistic and radical view of trade that even many ardent globalizers have abandonded. The next president can change our trade and labor policies to rebuild the American middle class. An anxiety bordering on panic is unnerving America’s economic elites […]

Gershom Gorenberg reports on a new case before the Isreali Supreme Court that could limit settlements: The photo, taken from the air, shows the red roofs of the houses of Ofrah, one of the best-known Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Between the existing houses one can make out the shells of nine new homes […]

As Dana writes below, Barack Obama has decided to opt out of the public financing system for the general election. Mark Schmitt wrote a great post about this, back when it was first discussed. He’s also extensively documented McCain‘s far more troubling campaign-finance shenanigans here on TAPPED. –The Editors

Dana Goldstein writes that major feminist groups are preparing to support Obama: Though some national women’s organizations are shifting slowly from primary to general election mode — or appear not to have shifted at all — behind the scenes, many of the major players of institutional feminism are preparing to line up behind Obama. The […]