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RedditIt's hard to believe that a year ago this week we were watching President Obama's stunning victory. At The Nation, we were jubilant about a new era of possibility opened up by the election. New York City was filled with crowds cheering in the street. Since then it's been a bracing year - filled with promise and disappointment.
This coming Thursday in The Nation, we'll be taking a look at one critical element of Obama's success: Young people. While pundits and strategists have raised ill-informed criticisms of "Generation Obama" in the past months - "where were they at the healthcare town hall meetings!?" asked many - no media outlet has actually tried to answer the question. We tracked a group of 30 young Obama volunteers and staff and delved into where they are now one year later. On Thursday our special issue, "Youth Power," looks at just that - what "Generation Obama" has been doing since we woke up last November 5th with a new President. The answers are surprising.
A few other items of note this week. The Nation had a reporting team in Chicago last week for the American Bankers Association conference, which returned with some gripping images. Here is David Barreda's slideshow from the gathering, which drew mass protests from progressives and workers. And here is some of reporter Esther Kaplan's best analysis - done in spite of having her press credentials yanked by the conference organizers and being called a "mole for the protesters" by the ABA.
Last Monday I was a speaker at J-Street's annual conference. Here's video of my panel, "Israel and the American Left," with Ezra Klein, Michelle Goldberg and J.J. Goldberg. It was a lively discussion, and raised a lot of solid ideas about the relationship between Israel, the Israel-Palestine issue and progressives.
Last Tuesday I was part of the "Intelligence Squared" debate series, squaring off with NPR's John Hockenberry, Politico's Jim VandeHei, and Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff about the future of media. My side of the debate - with my debate partners, David Carr of the New York Times and Phil Bronstein of the San Francisco Chronicle, was arguing against the "resolution" (this was a classic, Oxford-style debate) of "good riddance to the mainstream media. We won the faceoff - 68% of the audience took our side afterwards - and it was a lively and at times contentious face-off. I'll have a longer Editor's cut about it this week with video highlights and my introductory remarks; the whole thing will run on NPR affiliates around the country this week. (Please check local listings)
Lastly, take a minute to read Sharon Lerner's latest report on women and healthcare reform. Sharon has exposed a glaring hole in both the House and Senate bills currently taking shape: they fail to require insurers to cover basic preventive services for women, including contraception. Politico and Jezebel so far have noted the issue but not many others - this piece could use your tweets, facebook posts and forwards to make an impact.
As always, please leave comments below. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/katrinanation, or thanks to The Nation's Ari Melber and Twitter's new lists feature, you can follow all your Nation writers in one place.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
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KvH: .......a glaring hole in both the House and Senate bills currently taking shape: they fail to require insurers to cover basic preventive services for women, including contraception.
How about the male "hole" of providing condoms? Or the need for tooth paste, dental floss, shaving cream, razors, deoderants, shampoos, hair spray, botox, breast implants/reductions, penile enlargements......? Let's mandate all of these since as `insurance', come on now, they are all important to the `general welfare' of soicety, no?
Posted by Happy at 11/01/2009 @ 11:55pm
What happened to "ending wars"?
Posted by bleedingheart at 11/02/2009 @ 03:09am
The Droopster waited to get in his shot. He should be a long term investor since he is a supporter of the continued theft in health care. Let's stop the doomsday crap.Are the people of England,France,Germany,and Canada "shackled" by their governments?
Posted by whatozz at 11/02/2009 @ 05:34am
A year of bashing from the Right and Obama still polling above 50% ...
Health care reform, biggest initiative in years, looking likely to pass...
and the GOP now looking like it's going to become the "Tea Party/Tom Tancredo Whigs".
Lots of good news too.
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 07:48am
How arrogantly one's folly may be cast, after the proverbial die has come to rest and the "snake eyes" can be read! I quote from Ms vH: "At The Nation, we were jubilant about a new era of possibility opened up by the election."
What an embarrassment such a reminder would be to ordinary people, people who are not editors of a quondam prestigious, self-proclaimed guardian of the working-class!
To have been "jubilant" about the election of a man, though black-skinned, who saw the war in Afghanistan and repeatedly said so as the "right" war!
Jubilant about the possibilities from a candidate whose pledges on civil liberties were reneged by the him as US senator (FISA, prosecution of telecom spies)!
It was plain by November 5th what the possibilities were, and they were nothing to make an aware American jubilant.
Posted by goedel at 11/02/2009 @ 09:10am
Posted by goedel at 11/02/2009 @ 09:10am
Sorry, forgot to mention all the "disappointed purists" who'll be jumping on the penultimate Nader campaign in 2012 and lecturing the rest of us for our less-than-holy status.
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 09:23am
ending wars was not built in a day.
Posted by emile duBois at 11/02/2009 @ 09:30am
Obama lied, people died!
Posted by abell12ct at 11/02/2009 @ 09:58am
Katrina,
I happened to catch you on C-Span this morning. As usual, you did a very graceful job and you even managed a potent and effective and jab at the Republican Party in response to the final callers suggestion that Glenn Beck would have fun with your defense of Gorbachev's statements in your recent interview with him that you and your husband, Steve Cohen, conducted. Great line about the Republicans enlisting "liars and lunatics" to their cause.
It was also notable that the callers to C-Span were so much more well mannered than many of the posters who commonly litter the Nation's own blog spaces. But I do have one point that I believe is screaming for attention at the moment.
While I think you did a marvelous job of spelling out some of the critically important initiatives that Barack Obama needs to focus on, and bring new and refreshing approaches to --i.e. an Afghan troop drawdown, the critical need for a powerful jobs creation initiative, and (in reference to Gorbachev) the need to address human caused global warming-- their is a danger here that hasn't gotten nearly enough attention presently.
Posted by b_kool_66 at 11/02/2009 @ 10:12am
Barack Obama, as you pointed out, has not done himself any favors by providing trillions of dollars in taxpayer money (OUR money), and guarantees to the mega financial institutions that created the current economic morrass while refusing to take them to task and reduce their power by forcing a badly called for restructuring. In reference to that the grave danger now building is the threat posed to Obama's presidential effectiveness as he finds himself crushed between the Skylla of right wing mouth foamers, and the Charibdys of a left wing that has abandoned Obama as a phoney who has reneged on his mandate for change that he ran on as his primary campaign message.
In short, Obama must wake up and rediscover his "fierce urgency of now", or find himself completely politically hamstrung, and essentially a prisoner of angry mobs in every direction.
There's only one way to turn, Obama, and it isn't rightward. I sincerely hope that The Nation and others can make that point abundantly clear, and quickly.
Thanks again for your voice Katrina,
~B
Posted by b_kool_66 at 11/02/2009 @ 10:12am
A year of bashing from the Right and Obama still polling above 50% ...
Lots of good news too.
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 07:48am
And of course, the Left had no problems w/Magic and `strongly approves' all that he's accomplished....he's just so wonderful.......culminating, so far, in a Nobel Prize!
OK? See, I can `agree' w/you!
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 10:27am
A year of bashing from the Right and Obama still polling above 50% ...
Lots of good news too.
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 07:48am
And of course, the Left had no problems w/Magic and `strongly approves' all that he's accomplished....he's just so wonderful.......culminating, so far, in a Nobel Prize!
OK? See, I can `agree' w/you!
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 10:27am
What possibly could construe the "lots" of good news?
The Taliban assault on Pakistan cities?
The continued lack of jobs?
The falling dollar?
The phony GDP report (ask the banks about the toxic derivatives-they're still there)
Trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see?
Michelle Obama dressed as Catwoman for Halloween (bet that got Mask excited)?
The projection for a new wave of foreclosures and continued slide in housing prices?
But I won't deny there is some good news.
Ford just reported a profit of 1 Billion dollars BY NOT TAKING GOVT MONEY!
Posted by antisocialist at 11/02/2009 @ 10:47am
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 10:27am
Basic polling, Happy. Obama still enjoys a majority of support. Oh, unless you want to try Rasmussen...the "only guy who gets it right".
or is it "the only guy who gets it for the Right"?
heheh
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 10:55am
"Michelle Obama dressed as Catwoman for Halloween (bet that got Mask excited)?"----Posted by antisocialist at 11/02/2009 @ 10:47am
Never read Drudge....right, Larry?
Pull the other one.
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 10:56am
Basic polling, Happy. Obama still enjoys a majority of support. Oh, unless you want to try Rasmussen...the "only guy who gets it right".
or is it "the only guy who gets it for the Right"?
heheh
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 10:55am
You do remember my favorite saying this year?
For the benefit of newer readers:
Time is the Conservatives' friend!
Now, tell me, given I've been saying that for the entire Magic administration, have I been right, no matter which "poll" you wish to cling to?
How about my call for double-digit UNemployment dating back to late last year post-election? I've got 3 more monthly reports coming out to make up 0.2% `miss'.....wanna place any bets?
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 11:00am
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 11:00am
Time is on your side, Happ? How about history?
1983-January-
What was the unemployment rate?
What was the job approval for the President?
What would a non-partisan Happy bet on that President's chances at re-election?
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 12:07pm
MASK, when I say "time is my friends", I hope you realize that the "time" I refer to, moves forward.
You, and Magic, seem to just love to go backward....
But, given that it took 2 years for Reagan to show his polices worked, I can give Magic until 2011 to get the jobs growing strongly. Fair and Balanced and all!
IF The Annointed One gets UNemployment down to 6~7% by late 2011, he might have a fair shot at Re-Election....one caveat to this totally achievable goal (with the right policies), is that he doesn't achieve this via high inflation (not so easy, in fact, I'd say pretty damned hard).
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 2:36pm
Congratulations is in order, for our Tax-cheating Treasury Chief, for making one heck of a deal:
Geithner "Burned Billions," Shafted Taxpayers on CIT Loan, Prof. Bill Black Says
Posted Nov 02, 2009 12:00pm EST by Peter Gorenstein
Another one of the nation's largest lenders has filed for bankruptcy. On the brink for months, CIT filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sunday.
The prepackaged plan allows CIT to restructure.....
But here's the bad news: While senior debt holders will only lose 30% of their investment, we, the U.S. taxpayer, will lose the entire $2.3 billion we lent the company this summer.
William Black, professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law is dumbfounded. "We put ourselves on the hook in a completely inept way where we lose first. We lose entirely as the taxpayers.".....
==============================
Sorry, folks, the sharpest tool in the shed will always be hanging on the private-sector side!
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 2:53pm
The last paragraph, below, was posted by "Mask". I copied it, not because of its inherent value but because the attributions are misleading. Though it says "Posted by goedel...", I did not post it, though I did post the preceeding comment.
As for "disappointed purists"(see below), I do not fit that description. I never expected that candidate Obama would make a good president; I did not vote for him; yes, I voted my conscience for Ralph Nader. I did not vote for Mr Nader because he or I are "purists", but because I did not wish to be betrayed by placing my confidence in Obama.
As for President Obama, he has in less than a year exceeded my worst expectations of him. Nonetheless, I believe with much fear that the worst of Obama is yet to come. The man is unprincipled and incompetent, a worse combination of qualities would be hard to conger.
"Posted by goedel at 11/02/2009 @ 09:10am
Sorry, forgot to mention all the "disappointed purists" who'll be jumping on the penultimate Nader campaign in 2012 and lecturing the rest of us for our less-than-holy status.
Posted by Mask at 11/02/2009 @ 09:23am"
Posted by goedel at 11/02/2009 @ 6:26pm
KvH: .......a glaring hole in both the House and Senate bills currently taking shape: they fail to require insurers to cover basic preventive services for women, including contraception.
How about the male "hole" of providing condoms? Or the need for tooth paste, dental floss, shaving cream, razors, deoderants, shampoos, hair spray, botox, breast implants/reductions, penile enlargements......? Let's mandate all of these since as `insurance', come on now, they are all important to the `general welfare' of soicety, no?
Posted by Happy at 11/01/2009 @ 11:55pm | ignore this person | warn this person
You may be painting with a bit of a broad brush there, Happ. She's talking in the context of prevention.
Not seeing what any of your items are going to "prevent", at that magnitude, for the boys.
('cept maybe 18 or so years on the hook. Heh.)
Posted by schnellerheinz at 11/02/2009 @ 6:57pm
Not seeing what any of your items are going to "prevent", at that magnitude, for the boys.
('cept maybe 18 or so years on the hook. Heh.)
Posted by schnellerheinz at 11/02/2009 @ 6:57pm
I sure hope you have no kids! Cause...you would never have told them:
toothpaste prevents tooth decay and yellowing
dental floss prevents gum decay and bad breath
shaving cream prevents sliced skin which could lead to infection and additional medical care
botox/breast/penile xyz prevent sagging self-esteem, and you know how Libs place high priority on that
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 8:07pm
Fortune weighs in with its own `congratulations' to our Tax-cheating Geithner (& boss Magic-in-Chief). Many more such congrats to come....all the way to the 2010 elections, huh?
Washington's inconvenient economic truths
CIT loss won't be last for taxpayers
The bankruptcy of CIT means a $2.3 billion wipeout for Treasury. More losses are likely as other TARP recipients have missed dividend payments.
By Colin Barr, senior writer
Last Updated: November 2, 2009: 4:10 PM ET
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- CIT Group is the first big bailout loss for taxpayers, but it won't be the last.
CIT (CIT, Fortune 500) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday. The New York-based small business lender said all its common and preferred shares will be canceled, which will wipe out the $2.3 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program investment the Treasury Department made last December.
Though the government is also highly unlikely to recoup all the money it plowed into AIG, Citigroup, Fannie Mae and General Motors, CIT is the first bailout to go to zero -- in just 11 months, no less....
Posted by Happy at 11/02/2009 @ 8:36pm
Yes, they are fun curiousities, but nestled among 50 plus other curiousities, like tracks by such heavyweights as Fapardokly, The Moon, The Yellow Payges, Limey & The Yanks and The Sons Of Adam, the playlist becomes monotonous.
Posted by ligtvizle at 11/04/2009 @ 07:29am
Nonetheless, I believe with much fear that the worst of Obama is yet to come. The man is unprincipled and incompetent, a worse combination of qualities would be hard to conger.Not seeing what any of your items are going to "prevent", at that magnitude, for the boys.http://rizehaber.blogevim.com.Thank You !
Posted by ligtvizle at 11/04/2009 @ 07:34am
Katrina misses the main point, that Barack Obama belongs to the political universe she forlornly hopes he stands apart from. She says, " Whatever one thinks of Obama's policy on any specific issue, he is clearly a reform president committed to the improvement of people's lives and to the renewal and reconstruction of America. " Why should we believe a word of this?The President has shown clearly what side he works for. Obama had a great opportunity to use his power to make dramatic changes (he might have nationalized broken banks for one). He has shown dedication to act like Bush on most important matters. Indeed, on health care Bush by extending Medicare coverage to prescription drugs may have done far more than Obama will . He could have sent the extreme right packing by going after Bush's extensive lawlessness. Instead he saved them! He could have withdrawn troops from Iraq as he promised and he did not need to create a new war which might well be another Vietnam. Lets face it, Obama is a Bush conservative, a disaster for middle America and all progressives. He is as anti-liberal as the extreme right wing. And he is sold out to the corporations as much as they are. He could have made progress only if he stood against expanding the empire. He has shown his willingness to play their game of starve the state by pouring all our wealth on war, and Wall St., and big Energy. The few "hopeful" things he has done are droplets compared to the reactionary flood out of his office. Look on Obama and despair; don't hope.--Citizenjoe
Posted by Joe Deane at 11/06/2009 @ 11:36am