himwhynot

Monica Potts explains why liberals love the acerbic comedian Louis C.K. Louis, whose real last name, Szekely, is pronounced “C.K.,” talked about that scene with Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s Fresh Air, in July. He said he wasn’t trying to tell people not to use the word but was simply trying to show […]

Harold Meyerson says that in California, the race for governor hinges on Hispanic turnout. On a hot Saturday morning last weekend, about 40 casually dressed Hispanics were packed into a small suite of offices in an East Los Angeles strip mall, diligently quizzing themselves — in Spanish — on California gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and […]

Matthew Yglesias says that despite the headlines, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has little impact on most Israelis’ everyday lives. The successful crushing of the Second Intifada in the early 2000s has created a dynamic in which most Israelis neither fear Palestinian violence nor witness the injustice of Israeli occupation. The economy is one of the strongest […]

Tim Fernholz says if the public once again steps up to bail out the banks, we should get something big in return. But, to borrow a phrase from a certain former White House official, in every crisis there is opportunity. The revelation of this negligence offers the Obama administration and Congress an opportunity to capitalize […]

Gabriel Arana says that by dragging his feet amid dramatic social and legal advances for gay rights, the “change” president has become the chief obstacle to overturning DADT. The decision on gays in the military represents a sharp turning point: It takes effect immediately. In the Defense of Marriage Amendment suit, the presiding judge allotted […]

Ann Friedman says Obama‘s base still wants a positive political experience — not just a set of policy positions. Just two years later, everyone agrees that Obama’s party is having trouble “involving the customer.” These days, the Tea Party is the political movement that offers its members a thrilling collective experience. Democrats bracing for disappointing […]

Robert Reich looks at book promotion in a world without publishers. In a few years, I suppose, we’ll be able to do without publishers, too. Readers will just download authors directly. I won’t even have to write “books” as such in order to get ideas out. Maybe I’ll be able to offer sequences of reports […]

Paul Waldman explains how basic misunderstandings about government benefit the right. For as long as researchers have been asking about it, Americans have expressed a jumble of contradictory feelings about government. They say they want government to be smaller, yet if you ask them about programs one by one, they support spending more on almost […]

Adam Serwer says that with their failure to enact immigration reform, Democrats risk turning their “emerging majority” into a permanent swing vote. With the Hispanic-friendly conservatism of the Bush family no longer dominating the Republican Party, Democrats felt more confident than ever in counting Hispanic voters as a permanent part of their base. The 2008 […]

Paul Starr says come next January, the great American impasse will be back in all its toxic splendor. Many who voted for Obama now express disappointment with what he’s done. It’s fair to be disappointed; unemployment is far too high. But the problems are systemic and institutional. The impact of the financial crisis was bound […]