Tim Fernholz

Richard Just has written an important article in TNR that deals with almost the entirety of the situation in Darfur; capturing perfectly the feelings of powerlessness shared by those who have observed the genocide and its horrific humanitarian and political results for years without seeing any successful effort to hamper the work of the Khartoum […]

I have to disagree with Adam here. Obama‘s new ad is a great vehicle for linking McCain to Bush while guaranteeing extensive media coverage thanks to the celebrity part — it demonstrates a great understanding of how the press works, allowing Obama to enjoy his vacation without people carping that he’s not responding to his […]

In his triumphant return to blogging, Matt Yglesias notes that the U.S. has, uh, no real leverage to respond to the crisis in Georgia. Even better, as these neocon types fulminate for an aggressive U.S. response, the administration officials who usually enable them are responding with … laughter. “We’ve placed ourselves in a position that […]

I haven’t been following Howard Gleckman as much as Ezra has, but this post offering the ridiculous idea that Douglas Holtz-Eakin should be Obama’s OMB director also includes this: Second, Holtz-Eakin would enjoy fiscal credibility in the financial markets. The bond vigilantes have not cared about deficits for years, but they tend to get interested […]

In the true spirit of the evils of euphemism — and creating some synergy with Spencer’s piece from yesterday — today we learn how to describe air quality in China: On the long-awaited day that these Olympics officially opened, the sky was smoggy and the local air quality rating was 94, well above the limits […]

With the Olympics kicking off tomorrow, Michael Scherer wonders whether President Bush will make any statements about China’s complicity with, and indeed support of, the genocide in Sudan. Here’s his chance: Earlier this week, the Chinese government revoked the visa of Joey Cheek, a speedskater and the U.S. Olympic Committee’s 2006 sportsman of the year. […]

A great fracas is evolving because a labor union successfully represented the interests of its members in negotiations with a major corporation. That doesn’t seem like it would be a big deal except that those members are Muslims and the corporation’s concession is letting them have the important Muslim holiday, Eid Al-Fitr, as a paid […]

I just got off the phone with the folks from the progressive standard-bearers Campaign for America’s Future. Robert Borosage, Celinda Lake (it’s definitely Celinda Lake Day at TAPPED), and Drew Westen announced a new economic policy war room that will be doing progressive messaging for the rest of the election. Lake’s polls show that the […]

Obama’s lead, or lack thereof, has been a topic of concern in the blogosphere of late: Given the favorable environment for Democrats, why isn’t he leading by more than single digits in the polls? Marc Ambinder’s take seems pretty spot on to me, especially his last point about people paying attention: Despite all the hype […]

A new powersharing agreement may be approved soon in Zimbabwe. The plan gives Morgan Tsvangirai most of the control over the government as Prime Minister while allowing Robert Mugabe to serve in an honorary role. The deal includes amnesty for Mugabe, whose rule has seen numerous human rights abuses in past years, most recently in […]