The Second Death of John Maynard Keynes The Second Death of John Maynard Keynes
Just three years ago, President Obama was an unapologetic Keynesian. Now, he's jumped on the deficit hysteria bandwagon.
Aug 31, 2011 / Column / Eric Alterman
Enter Rick Perry Enter Rick Perry
With even more impressive hair than Kerry, At last into the race arrives Rick Perry. Though Perry’s blessed, no doubt, with splendid hair, he Believes some things that strike some folks as scary. Observers down in Texas still are wary. The space between his ears, they say, is airy. But for the pros who count which states he’d carry, What’s there beneath the hair is ancillary.
Aug 24, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Michele Bachmann, Wife in Chief? Michele Bachmann, Wife in Chief?
Is a vote for Bachmann actually a vote for her husband?
Aug 24, 2011 / Column / Katha Pollitt
Daylight Robbery, Meet Nighttime Robbery Daylight Robbery, Meet Nighttime Robbery
The UK rioters know full well that their elites are looters too.
Aug 24, 2011 / Column / Naomi Klein
Cut, Cap and Balance Cut, Cap and Balance
(A Republican version of “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” from Kiss Me, Kate) Cut, cap and balance. Just turn off the tap. Cut, cap and balance. Shut that purse up with a snap. Let’s cut wasteful programs in bunches— Like research and poor kids’ school lunches. All life is not really a fed affair, So let’s take a scalpel to Medicare. ’Cause if rich people pay less in taxes We’ll still whip that Evil old Axis. All citizens will be in clover If we just heed the teaching of Grover. Cut, cap and balance. Balance, cut and cap.
Aug 10, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
How Rupert Murdoch Buys Friends and Influences People How Rupert Murdoch Buys Friends and Influences People
Politicians don’t just need the billionaire media mogul’s cash—they need his newspapers, magazines and TV networks, too.
Aug 10, 2011 / Column / Eric Alterman
Michele: A Serenade by Iowa Social Conservatives* Michele: A Serenade by Iowa Social Conservatives*
(With apologies to the Beatles) Michele, our belle, Thinks that gays will all be sent to hell. That’s Michele. Michele, our belle, Thinks they’re sick but could be made all well. Yes, Michele. She just needs to turn them toward Jesus. They’re going through a phase That leads to filthy ways. But with her hubby’s help these guys could All be John Wayne. Michele, our belle, Views you have are suiting us just swell. Our Michele. * Yiddish version (sung with schutzpah) titled “We Kvell, Michele.”
Jul 27, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Russian Hero Russian Hero
A bet on a horse in the 1949 Grand National resulted in the largest collective transfer of wealth ever to communism's stalwarts in Britain.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Cockburn
Birth Control: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Birth Control: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Birth control is lifesaving medicine. Yet the myth that it is “controversial” persists.
Jul 27, 2011 / Column / Katha Pollitt
A Summary of Public Response to the News That a Tabloid Hacked the Phones of a Missing Girl and of Families of Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan A Summary of Public Response to the News That a Tabloid Hacked the Phones of a Missing Girl and of Families of Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
All England said, in one voice, “Blimey! Could even Murdoch be that slimy?”
Jul 13, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin