Pema Levy

Yesterday, police charged abortion provider Dr. Kermit Gosnell of Philadelphia with the murder of one patient and seven infants. For decades, Mr. Gosnell operated in a clinic that, by the description from the grand-jury report, was strewn with dirt, blood, and fetal remains. According to The New York Times, Dr. Gosnell “performed late-term abortions, after […]

Since Jared Loughner‘s attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, Republicans have united behind the idea that this was an isolated act by a crazy person. They argue that because Loughner was mentally unstable, their political rhetoric, often filled with guns and other violent intimations, is not to blame. Loughner probably was a mentally ill person with […]

In TAP‘s anniversary issue this summer, Ann Friedman defended identity politics with the simple and compelling argument that seeking justice through politics is what makes being a liberal meaningful. Rather than dismiss the issues that truly matter to the constituencies that form the progressive base — African Americans, women, Latinos, and members of the LGBT […]

Kevin Drum explains today how he intends to vote on the many propositions on the California ballot tomorrow, including his “no” vote on Proposition 21, which would put an $18 surcharge on the annual vehicle registration fee to fund state parks: It’s a hard one to vote against since it’s fully self-funding and fiscally defensible, […]

Ever since Colorado Springs — the anti-tax Mecca of the west — refused to raise taxes to fill its $28 million budget shortfall and instead began cutting services, conservatives and liberals alike have been tuning in to see just how well a city with bare-bones government services could survive. Thus far, one-third of the street […]

Stephen Colbert mentioned something my review of The Social Network last week missed when he asked screenwriter Aaron Sorkin what happened to all the “ladies in the film.” Truth is, there are some, but they’re basically portrayed as partying groupies intoxicated with — or as Jezebel points out, dropping their panties over — power, a […]

Shirley Sherrod indicated yesterday that she will sue Andrew Breitbart for editing and posting a video of her, which resulted in her losing her job (only to be offered another) at the USDA. There has been a lot of encouragement online, urging Sherrod to hold Breitbart — and Fox News, which disseminated the story — […]