Cover of September 14, 2009 Issue

Print Magazine

September 14, 2009 Issue

Katrina vanden Heuvel on the Manhattan District Attorney race, Calivin Trillin on town-hall meetings and Akiva Gottlieb on the writing of Ho…

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

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Editorial

Bush’s Third Term?

Imagine that George W. Bush had been allowed a third term as president, had run and had won or stolen it, and that we were all now living (and dying) through it.

Auden’s Love Poem for Humanity

The poet's "September 1, 1939" saw the start of World War II and declared: "We must love one another or die."

My Lai and Lockerbie Reconsidered

The eerie confluence of the tales of two convicted mass murderers, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and William Calley--and their fates.

Opposing Escalation in Afghanistan

Regardless of who started the war in Afghanistan, it is now Obama's war. Preventing military escalation is necessary if the president doesn't want it to become his Vietnam.

David Cortright

Aborn for Manhattan DA

An experienced prosecutor who knows that prevention is the best crime-fighting strategy, Aborn has fought for drug-law reform and sensible gun-control.

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Paranoia Strikes Deep

If Obama and his progressive allies hope to defeat the latest assault on federal power, they will need to go beyond his artful ambivalence.

Flushing Blackwater

Recent disclosures of Blackwater's covert activities may finally force Congress to take action.

Noted.

Help for healthcare heroes; torture at the top.

The Fighting Liberal

Remembering Senator Edward Kennedy, who broke barriers of personality and partisanship.

Afghan War Turnoff

Trust the judgment of the American majority, who say this war is no longer worth fighting.

Column

Obama’s Meaningless War

The way he's headed on Afghanistan, Barack Obama is threatened with a quagmire that could bog down his presidency.

Novak Without Tears

It's time to do Robert Novak the honor of taking his life's work seriously.

Reverse Nazism and the War on Universal Healthcare

What's at stake could very well be nothing less than America's own Weimar moment.

Patricia J. Williams

Town-Hall Meetings

Letters

Letters

The Buck Stops Here
Ellicott City, Md.

Our Readers

Feature

Obama Unshackles Global AIDS Work

With the change in Pepfar guidelines, the Obama administration opens new opportunities to link AIDS work and family planning and strengthen health systems in developing countries.

Barbara Crossette

Memories of Ted Kennedy

Senator Kennedy was recognized worldwide as a leader of the American left. What is less recognized is his connection to a social justice-oriented Catholic faith.

Norman Birnbaum

Shotgun Adoption

Christian agencies lavish support services on pregnant women--if they give up their babies.

The Secret Government

An effective investigation into the breadth of the CIA's interrogation programs must be bipartisan, similar to the work of the Church Committee in the 1970s.

Books & the Arts

Auden’s Love Poem for Humanity

The poet's "September 1, 1939" saw the start of World War II and declared: "We must love one another or die."

Pattern Recognition: The Writings of Hollis Frampton

A new volume of essays shows Hollis Frampton leaving behind photography for film.

Back Talk: Jarvis Cocker

A conversation with the former frontman of Pulp about the sound of music in the digital era.

Christine Smallwood

Beyond Exhaustion: Dan Graham’s Period Pieces

Does the art of Dan Graham and his disciples promise deceptive simplicity or formulaic thinking?

Barry Schwabsky

A Music of Austerity: The Poetry of Wallace Stevens

In his best poems, Wallace Stevens makes deprivation feel seductively like plenitude.

James Longenbach

“We must count…”

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