Print Magazine

December 15, 2008 Issue

The Editors, on the stimulus package, Mark Engler on the new gilded age, Calvin Trillin on Detroit’s jet set…

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

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Editorial

The Fall of Triumphalism

Because of the hubris of Bush and Cheney, we face a world of multiplied dangers, emboldened challengers and a paucity of reliable allies.

Michael T. Klare

Don’t Repackage Gitmo!

Shutting down Guantánamo is long overdue. We shouldn't recreate it by another name.

Michael Ratner and Jules Lobel

Hands Off the UAW

If he keeps his promises to autoworkers, Obama has the chance to renew the ability of organzed labor to improve the lot of union and non-union workers in the twenty-first century.

John Nichols

Noted.

Kudos to Minnesota's recount process; and kudos to Van Jones, 2008 recipient of the $100,000 Puffin/Nation Prize for green economy activism.

The Editors

Moving Obama

Progressives need to be as clear-eyed, tough and pragmatic about Obama as he is about us.

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Bonfire of the Vanities

Timothy Geithner is responsible for much of the generous deal-making now underway with Wall Street. If Obama's not careful, he will be blamed.

William Greider

Stimulus Now

On Day One, Congress must present Obama with a bold stimulus plan focused on putting people to work, rebuilding infrastructure and expanding the productive capacity of the economy.

The Editors

Column

Can Obama Stay the Course?

As he drives his team of retreads, the challenge for Obama is to remain the agent of change who electrified the nation.

Robert Scheer

State Banks Could Solve Financial Crisis

Forget big bailouts. The fed should finance non-profit state banks like the Bank of North Dakota--no profit means no reason for bankers to misbehave--to get real money to real peop...

Nicholas von Hoffman

Refs, Worked (Redux)

CBS News and the Washington Post go into overtime expunging liberal bias.

Eric Alterman

The Three Bozos of the Apocalypse

Calvin Trillin

Letters

Goodbye Robocalls?
Amissville, Va.

Our Readers

Feature

Mumbai’s 9/11 Meme

We have much to fear from easy evocations of 9/11, but in India, it is a call to the world to recognize their loss.

Lakshmi Chaudhry

Beyond the Bailout State

If original thinking doesn't find a home among the Obama administration's Clinton-era Brainiacs, how can we move beyond the bailout state?

Steve Fraser

Rethinking the Canadian Exit Strategy

For years, disenchanted US progressives figured they could always move to Canada. But Canadians, stuck with a conservative government, may now be eyeing America.

Will Di Novi

Iraq Pact Challenges Antiwar Movement

The US-Iraq Security Pact signals the war is ending--though not soon enough--and challenges peace activists to broaden their agenda against new quagmires.

Tom Hayden

Peace Prize Comes With Criticism

As Martti Ahtisaari receives the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, it is clear that the hard work of peacemaking does not guarantee universal acclaim.

Barbara Crossette

Thailand in Chaos

Its airports shut, Thailand is now ungovernable, as an educated elite attempts to overthrow the populist government it couldn't defeat at the ballot box.

Barbara Crossette

Change Immigrants and Labor Can Believe In

The Obama administration should embrace progressive tactics to protect human and workplace rights.

David Bacon

Election’s Over–Time to Begin

How millions of Obama volunteers can go to work for a progressive agenda.

Michael Pertschuk

How to Save Motor City

Letting Detroit fail: catastrophic. Transforming it into a lean green machine-maker: visionary.

Marissa Colón-Margolies

Conversations With Chavez and Castro

Conversations with Raul Castro about Obama, Guantánamo and the Pentagon; and with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on human rights in his country and the next US administration.

Sean Penn