Print Magazine

August 4, 2008 Issue

The Editors on Obama and Iraq, Gary Younge on Jesse Jackson, Matt Steinglass on China…

Cover art by: Cover design by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels

Purchase Current Issue or Login to Download the PDF of this Issue Download the PDF of this Issue

Editorial

The Suicide Solution

Believe it or not, suicide is becoming an increasingly popular response to dealing with debt.

Barbara Ehrenreich

Make Freddie and Fannie Go Green

Don't just bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: require them to start building environmentally responsible homes.

James S. Henry and Brent Blackwelder

Summer of the Superhero

Superhero-themed films are dominating the summer box office. Is it just about the bottom line or our national longing for genuine heroism?

Adam Howard

The Nation Sues the Government

The Nation joins the ACLU and several other organizations and attorneys in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the FISA act.

The Editors

Obama as Sex Symbol

A desperately needy America warms to the hot married love of Barack and Michelle.

JoAnn Wypijewski

Noted.

Ari Melber tracks the continuing fight over FISA; Stuart Klawans remembers Thomas Disch.

The Editors

Obama and Iraq

His plan to exit Iraq falls far short of the complete withdrawal most Americans want. But it's a place to start.

The Editors

Column

A Bipartisan Lovefest With Bankers

This is a time to condemn the banking industry, not embrace it. So what do McCain and Obama think they're doing?

Robert Scheer

How Wall Street Wrecked Your Retirement

The architects of America's disfunctional financial system allowed Wall Street gamble with our retirement savings--and now they appear to have lost it.

Nicholas von Hoffman

Obama on the Brink

Barack Obama is betraying his promise of change and is in danger of becoming just another political hack. Please prove me wrong.

Robert Scheer

When COINTELPRO Came to Town

The Maryland State Police's Department of Homeland Security has devoted hundreds of hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars to harassing people whose only crime was opposing the wa...

Dave Zirin

Indiscreet Conversations

Jesse Jackson's gaffe demonstrates that the days of being able to think out loud are over.

Gary Younge

I Read the News Today… Oh Boy

While some of America's smartest and most civic-minded people are trying to save daily newspapers, the media moguls who can make a difference seem to be completely off their rocker...

Eric Alterman

Phil Gramm Says We’re a Nation of Whiners

Calvin Trillin

Another New Yorker Cover

Edgy, controversial, hard-hitting... and funny.

Stephff

Letters

Readers weigh in on our inequality issue; Ari Berman responds to his critics.

Our Readers and Ari Berman

Feature

Blackwater’s Not Going Anywhere

Anyone who thinks Blackwater is in serious trouble is dead wrong. Business has never been better for Blackwater and its future looks bright.

Jeremy Scahill

Obama From the Agora

Assessing Barack Obama's mythic destiny: will he become more Athenian than Spartan?

Tom Hayden

Woman in the House

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks about politics, sexism, impeachment, Obama, and her own personal VP pick.

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Colombia’s Heart of Darkness in NYC–and DC

Colombia paramilitary leaders extradited to face stiff US drug charges will dodge accountability for their atrocities. Rights watchers say their victims now have little chance fo...

Bill Weinberg

Among the Missing

This Week: Congresswoman Kang takes a powder, her chief of staff Chet Kimbrough is on the mend and two plotting lovers get vamped on.

Gary Phillips

Extreme Water Emergencies

Floods, drought, pollution, wildfires: summer's extreme water conditions afflicting the United States this summer are a call to action. Why are we helpless?

Elizabeth de la Vega

Women’s Advocate Is UN’s New Human Rights Chief

Despite the Bush Administration's scramble to scuttle her nomination because she is--gasp!--a feminist, a South African judge is named high commissioner for human rights.

Barbara Crossette

Obama’s Berlin Visit

A nation whose citizens have been largely turned off to politics held Barack Obama in a fervent embrace, viewing America once again as a place of new possibilities.

Norman Birnbaum

Obama in Israel: One Tough Audience

The media was enthused, but ordinary Israelis, cynical about their own political leaders, gave Obama a muted reception. The refrain here is "No, they can't," not "Yes, he can."

Hillel Schenker

Dispatch from Minnesota: Al Franken v. Norm Coleman

By campaigning in the tradition of his hero, Paul Wellstone, Al Franken may have triumphed over the biggest threat to his candidacy--voter skepticism.

Alexander Zaitchik

The End of History: With a Period, Not a Question Mark

Palestinians lament the Israeli-built wall and life under occupation, and fear permanent restricted access to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Phyllis Bennis

Attack of the Global Pirate Bankers

For decades, the world's largest banks have been helping wealthy Americans steal billions in unpaid taxes. What are we going to do about it?

James S. Henry

Hall of Fame Shut-Out

A conspiracy of management cronies is blocking 91-year-old union pioneer Marvin Miller from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Peter Dreier and Kelly Candaele

Radovan Karadzic Captured After 12 Years on the Run

Radovan Karadzic, captured after twelve years on the run, possessed extraordinary levels of intellect, cruelty and power. And power wielded in a time of war comes at great price, w...

Slavenka Drakulic

Obama in Iraq: The Gift of a Timetable

An Iraqi government desperate for credibility could receive no better gift than Obama's exit plan.

Patrick Cockburn

Daydreaming and I’m Thinking of You

This Week: Congresswoman Kang takes a cruise, gets some strategic advice from Ho Chi Minh and finds that this is but a pause before the big showdown.

Gary Phillips

Netroots Nation Diggs Pelosi, Tubes Obama

Every major Democratic player came to Texas to engage with online activists who have been key to their success. So why do netroots continue to be cast as angry and estranged?

Ari Melber

Obama in Afghanistan: Careful What You Wish For

He says Afghanistan is the war America should be fighting. But on this much-ballyhooed listening tour, will he be hearing anything he doesn't already know?

Graham Usher

Maliki’s Obama Endorsement

In a huge setback for John McCain and the Bush Administration, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki endorses Barack Obama's timeline for withdrawal--and the presumptive Democratic n...

Tom Hayden

Nine Reasons to Investigate War Crimes Now

Some Democrats are pushing to let bygones be bygones and concentrate instead on solving problems of the future. Here's why we can't let the Bush Administration off the hook.

Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith