Sheldon Wolin’s new book offers a controversial but ultimately convincing diagnosis of how America’s democracy has succumbed to an unacknowledged totalitarian temptation.
PBS has made the film “A Walk to Beautiful” available online. It’s the extraordinary story of women who suffer for years from a preventable and treatable injury simply because they are poor.
Hey, Chris Matthews, what’s the French word for “shower?” Jon Stewart takes stock of the media coverage from last week’s West Virginia Democratic primary, wherein it was established that Barack Obama may not be the Mountain State’s “kind of guy,” and pits Matthews against Clinton campaign chair Terry McAuliffe in a good ol’ fashioned “Douche Off.”
Although John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama, he had plenty of nice things to say about “my friend and your friend, Sen. Hillary Clinton.” In fact, he began his endorsement speech with a plea for unity: “When this nomination battle is over—and it will be over soon—brothers and sisters, we must come together as Democrats.”
Hillary Clinton tells Wolf Blitzer that Rep. Charles Rangel was “probably right” about her recent comment to USA Today. Clinton had argued that white voters seemed to prefer her lately. Rangel called that statement “the dumbest thing.”
Stephen Colbert rips Clinton insider Terry McAuliffe, who recently told Tim Russert that his father, Big Russ, was probably looking down from heaven cheering Hillary Clinton on. One problem: Big Russ is alive.
Is some of what we now consider common knowledge about the run-up to the Iraq war wrong—for example, that we were deceived about the U.S.’s reasons for invading Iraq? Former Pentagon official Douglas Feith, who has been harshly criticized for his involvement in that process, thinks so—and he has a new book to make his point. Here he faces Jon Stewart and his “Daily Show” audience to talk about it all.
Actor Sean Penn has already made waves at the Cannes Film Festival, where he’s leading this year’s jury, by weighing in about the presidential race back home—and by pointedly bucking the local smoking ban. Suffice it to say that Penn won’t be joining Oprah on one of her pep rallies for Barack Obama anytime soon.
In this first-ever biography of the religious leader many predict will take over Iraq after the Americans leave, Patrick Cockburn, one of the most respected correspondents in the Middle East, provides a dramatic look at a man Paul Bremer denounced as a “Bolshevik Islamist.”
Studio honcho Harvey Weinstein is a force to be reckoned with—it was no coincidence that Disney subsidiary Miramax became a major player in the film industry under his watch—and recently he reportedly attempted to use his powers of persuasion to convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to follow his plan for a Democratic primary revote in Florida and Michigan ... or else.
Entertainment Weekly has released first-look photos of actor Josh Brolin in character for his lead role in Oliver Stone’s new movie, “W.” Portraying the current president is no small challenge, but director Stone, who has been accused of courting controversy in his previous big-screen presidential portrayals, has promised to treat his subject fairly.
Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman are now personae non gratae in Rome, according to the Italian capital’s new mayor, Gianni Alemanno, a former fascist who thinks American stars shouldn’t be hyped at Rome’s annual film festival at the expense of Italian actors and directors.
Tom Hanks has a preferred candidate, but what makes his endorsement interesting is not the person he chooses, but how he frames that choice. This video, which appeared on the actor’s MySpace page, seems as much a comment on the celebrity endorsement as it is an endorsement by a celebrity.
Building on his “President Jonah” theme, Gore Vidal offers another angle on Bush’s presidency, illuminated by the recent spate of wildfires in Southern California.
Sectarian violence has driven millions of Iraqis from their homes. Now that the violence has abated in one formerly upscale Baghdad neighborhood, residents are returning to find squatters who refuse to leave and a government and occupying army unwilling to kick them out.
Panic has taken hold of the party following its loss in a ruby-red district, and some Republicans are warning of disaster for the GOP unless it revamps its stale “brand.”
What passes for smart economic policy is actually a set of right-wing globalization measures that destabilizes the world economy. For the sake of Americans and others, our politicians need to wise up.
Ah, yes, those torture confessions have proved so useful. That, at least, was the claim of our president in justifying one of the most egregious assaults ever on this nation’s commitment to the rule of law. But now comes news that charges have been dropped against the so-called Sept. 11 attacks’ 20th hijacker, one of dozens so identified, because the “evidence” he supplied under torture and later recanted is not credible enough to go to trial.
Double standards are endemic in American journalism. But Cindy McCain, wife of the Republican presidential candidate, displayed poor taste in flaunting her family’s special immunity from press scrutiny.
As the dust settles from the recent roundup of allegedly abused children from a fundamentalist retreat, some are asking whether saving these kids is worth the human cost.
Seven years after the 9/11 attacks, if we were to seek a portrait that is emblematic of the way the U.S. has tried—and failed—to bring those responsible for the heinous plot to justice, we would have to produce a photograph of Mohammed al-Qahtani.
A veteran of Army intelligence has shed new light on the military’s 2003 shelling of the Palestine Hotel, a Baghdad home to many journalists, including two who were killed by that attack.
While addressing the Israeli Knesset, President Bush referred to the willingness of “some” to speak with unsavory leaders such as Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and he went on to compare them to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton set aside their differences on diplomacy long enough to take objection to that statement.
File this one under “Choose Your Battles”: The Resistance, a national Christian group based in San Diego, has a problem with Starbucks’ new, slightly-more-sexed-up cup design, featuring a bustier version of the familiar siren depicted on the coffee company’s logo. Resistance founder Mark Dice pointed to the label’s “naked woman ... with her legs spread like a prostitute” and said Starbucks “might as well call themselves”—wait for it—“Slutbucks.”
The GOP was already bracing for a tough political year, but losses in three special elections prompted Rep. Tom Davis to send a panicked note to Republican leaders: “The political atmosphere facing House Republicans this November is the worst since Watergate and is far more toxic than the fall of 2006 when we lost thirty seats.”
The California Supreme Court has ruled that gays and lesbians have a right to marry. Chief Justice Ronald M. George aptly explained the landmark 4-3 decision: “Even the most familiar ... traditions often mask an unfairness and inequality that frequently is not recognized or appreciated by those not directly harmed.”
Chinese state media are reporting that more than 50,000 people could be found dead as a result of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Monday. That’s substantially higher than earlier estimates. The government has already confirmed close to 20,000 deaths.
The plight of the polar bear has come to represent the real-world impact of the climate crisis, so it is only fitting that the Bush administration had to be ordered by a court to make a decision on the endangered status of the species. After years of delay, the Interior Department finally classified the animal as threatened, but also promised to fight any meaningful protection.
‘A Walk to Beautiful’
