Adam Serwer

David Klinghoffer wants to know what happened to conservatism: Buckley‘s National Review, where I was the literary editor through the 1990s, remains as vital and interesting as ever. But more characteristic of conservative leadership are figures on TV, radio and the Internet who make their money by stirring fears and resentments. With its descent to […]

Proponents of Arizona’s SB 1070 are operating under a number of misleading assumptions and/or deliberate distortions. The undocumented population of Arizona is decreasing, not increasing, drug violence from Mexico has not spilled over, crime is generally down, and deportations are higher than they’ve been in 10 years. Proponents of the law know that public opinion […]

Howard Kurtz writes a nice, “fair and balanced” column on how ugly the public discourse is getting, using a set of on the one hand, on the other hand examples: In just the last few weeks, Salon Editor in Chief Joan Walsh and CNBC contributor Howard Dean have accused Fox News of racism; conservative crusader […]

The ADL loses Jon Chait. Marx, Lenin, whomever. I suppose it could have been worse for North Korea’s World Cup team. Michael Bloomberg stands up for the freedom to sag your pants.

Linda Greenhouse writes about an overlooked case heading for the Supreme Court, in which it will decide whether or not Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits any “voting qualification” that “results in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race […]

The importance of Newt Gingrich‘s speech at the American Enterprise Institute yesterday has been overlooked. Rick Lazio and Carl Paladino have embraced Islamophobia out of political expediency, and Sarah Palin can be expected to reflect the GOP’s populist impulses, no matter how ugly. But Gingrich is considered an intellectual force within the party, and his […]

Kathryn Jean Lopez on Essence Magazine hiring a white fashion director: [E]ssence [M]agazine sounds like it has brought us closer to a “post-racial america” than anything [B]arack [O]bama has done. I think this is about as coherent a conservative vision of interracial cooperation as has ever been expressed. “Post-racial America” is where black people do […]

The Anti-Defamation League comes out against the proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero: The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could […]

Jason Zengerle says something that shouldn’t have been necessary — that Attorney General Eric Holder is not a racist. He also explains why some conservatives are saying so anyway: But if the conservative case against Holder makes no sense logically, it does emotionally: Like Obama, the attorney general is black, and some right-wingers seem to […]

These statements from Julian Assange defending his not redacting the names of Afghan informants, highlighted by Joshua Foust, are really confusing for me: • He claimed that many informers in Afghanistan were “acting in a criminal way” by sharing false information with Nato authorities. • He said the White House knew that informants’ names could […]