Exodus: Why Americans are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity by David Shiflett (Sentinel, 224 pages, $23.95) Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America by Chris Hedges (Free Press, 224 pages, $24.00) These are tough times for liberal Christians. To hear most members of the media tell it, “liberal Christian” […]
Issue: The Reverend, the Dictator & the Newspaper
Posted inFeatures
The Lost Founder
On July 17, 1980, Ronald Reagan stood before the Republican national convention and the American people to accept his party’s nomination for president of the United States. Most of what he said that evening was to be expected from a Republican. He spoke of the nation’s past and its “shared values.” He attacked the incumbent […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Up With Rags
A Matter of Opinion by Victor S. Navasky (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 464 pages, $27.00) When I was in college and a member of my university’s Liberal Party, a common question posed to candidates for party office was a dichotomy: “New Republic or Nation?” (The American Prospect did not yet exist.) Most people didn’t […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Learning from Iraq
Sands of Empire: Missionary Zeal, American Foreign Policy, and the Hazards of Global Ambition by Robert W. Merry (Simon & Schuster, 320 pages, $26.00) Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq by Larry Diamond (Times Books, 369 pages, $25.00) As the insurgency rages on in Iraq and the […]
Posted inFeatures
Minority Report
In May of 2004, Paul Rivera had an idea. His proposal, based on his experience working in three previous presidential contests: Put staff in every market where Hispanic and African American voters were important and spend $1 million to test different base-vote mobilization strategies so that by July, the best one could be implemented and […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
Now Museum, Now You Don’t
A May fund-raiser at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, on Philadelphia’s Main Line, drew some 300 people for cocktails and an auction for trips to Europe and dinner for 20 at the foundation in the main gallery, ringed by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Cezanne masterpieces. Drinks and donor perks feed the museum […]
Posted inDispatches
Khartoum Characters
As President George W. Bush sat down at a joint press conference with South African President Thabo Mbeki on June 1, he preempted a question about the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, one of the topics of the two men’s White House luncheon. It had been 142 days since Bush had uttered the […]
Posted inFeatures
Winning by Losing Well
The torrent of bad legislation coming out of Washington won’t end anytime soon: an appalling budget; a throw-grandma-from-the-train Social Security proposal; hair-raising judicial appointments; bankruptcy, environmental, and tort-“reform” bills written by and for corporate patrons; and shredding what’s left of the safety net. Here’s the trillion-dollar question for national liberal organizations and the Democratic Party: […]
Posted inDepartments
Dossier: The Stem-Cell Gap
Embryonic stem-cell research may produce a renewable source of tissue transplants and lead to cures for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s … Embryonic stem cells are derived from 4- to 5-day-old blastocysts, clusters of about 150 cells that measure no more than two-tenths of a millimeter … On August 9, 2001, George W. Bush […]
Posted inColumns
Beyond “No”
“Just say no” has been a winning strategy for Democrats. Social Security privatization looks dead. Ditto with “progressive indexing” of Social Security benefits. CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) is on its last legs. Tax “reform” is a nonstarter. But if the Democratic Party is to win back the Senate or the House in […]