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Paul Waldman explains that Obama‘s rhetorical skills do not make him omnipotent: “We campaign in poetry. But when we’re elected we’re forced to govern in prose,” said Mario Cuomo, then-governor of New York, in a 1985 speech. “And when we govern — as distinguished from when we campaign — we come to understand the difference […]

David Callahan on how one industrial city is leading the way in preparing all schoolchildren to succeed in college: The debate over what it takes to get low-income kids ready for college, and then to actually earn a degree, has long been polarized. Some argue that better schools alone can ensure that such students are […]

Dana Goldstein on the White House’s “newer is better” approach to problems: Every single one of you has something you’re good at,” President Barack Obama told children in his Sept. 8 back-to-school address. He went on to list future occupations toward which students could strive — doctor, teacher, police officer, architect, lawyer. Also included in […]

Adam Serwer asks if sending some Guantanamo detainees to Bagram is a good or bad idea: On his second day in office, President Barack Obama ordered Guantanamo Bay Prison closed by January of 2010. Since then, the administration has struggled to meet its self-imposed deadline — Congress has blocked the administration from releasing cleared detainees […]

Terence Samuel on the looming conservative comeback: The GOP has officially declared its 2010 resurgence, and why not? This is as good a time as any. The party won all the big statewide elections last week, and it’s pulling ahead in Gallup’s generic congressional ballot this week. For the first time this year, more people […]

Tim Fernholz asks if we can learn to fight from our Canadian neighbors: It was a public-relations stunt worthy of P.T. Barnum, perfect for getting the attention of a uninterested American audience: Tuck an Afghan village, complete with authentic Afghans, into the heart of Washington, D.C., right between the White House and Capitol Hill. Then, […]

Jessica Clark looks at how zines became a natural outlet for feminist ideas: Scrawled and stapled, filled with rough-edged collages and BLARING CAPS, often achingly, embarrassingly personal, zines hardly seem like the founding documents of a movement. But, in the first book-length treatment of this topic, Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism, Alison Piepmeier argues […]

Tim Fernholz considers how our allies in the Middle East help abet conflict: Last weekend, Tom Friedman, America’s favorite middle-brow international optimist, threw up his hands in disgust. Though he made his name as a journalist covering Israel and its rivals and gained notoriety with continued calls to take just one more six-month stint in […]

Mark Pike on juvenile sentencing: In back-to-back cases on Monday morning, advocates argued for a constitutional ban on life-without-parole sentences for juveniles guilty of non-homicidal crimes. Many will argue that these cases are about arbitrary line drawing — but this is a line that symbolizes the standards of decency in our society. The United States […]

Michelle Goldberg on health reform and reproductive rights: We’ve reached a point where health-care reform threatens to leave access to abortion in worse shape than it is right now. The Stupak Amendment, added to the health-care bill in last-minute negotiations this weekend, goes beyond the existent ban on federal funding of abortion. By prohibiting anyone […]