Green Grows Grassroots
Mark Hertsgaard : In the Bush era, the green movement has become a paper tiger. It must regroup, reframe and reach out across the lines of race and class that have kept environmental issues at the political fringe.
The Editors call for a recount in Mexico, Patricia Williams explores the faux community of Facebook and MySpace, Stuart Klawans reviews Pirates of the Caribbean and five other films.
Mark Hertsgaard : In the Bush era, the green movement has become a paper tiger. It must regroup, reframe and reach out across the lines of race and class that have kept environmental issues at the political fringe.
Lakshmi Chaudhry : The Yearly Kos Convention revealed a blogosphere whose media critique is hampered by its political ambitions. Why can't progressives repair the press, not dismantle it?
William Greider : Is Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin's new "conceptual framework" of economic reform an acknowledgment of neoliberalism's failures or simply a repackaged version of Clintonomics?
Marc Cooper : In the ultimate swing district of the ultimate swing state, Patricia Madrid is trying to unseat New Mexico Representative "Leather" Heather Wilson. Is her Mountain State liberalism potent enough to win?
Michael Hardt
:
The crises faced by Bush signal not only the errors of his
Administration but the end of imperialism itself--and the emergence of
new, more dangerous forces.
Our Readers & William Johnson : Readers write back about Ari Berman's coverage of the Democratic National Committee, Eugene Richards' photojournalism and William Johnson's coverage of the Teamsters.
: A recount of disputed ballots in the contested presidential election is the surest way to strengthen Mexico's fledgling democratic institutions and forestall potential political and social conflagration.
:
The latest bloodshed in Gaza and Lebanon demonstrates that there
will be no end of violence until Israel agrees to negotiate with the
democratically elected Palestinian leadership.
Mickey Edwards : Citizens, lawyers and constitutional scholars of all political stripes have reason to be concerned about President Bush's use of "signing statements," which assert his right to ignore a law and threaten the central tenet of America's system of constrained government.
David Cole : By casting the decisive vote in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and other contentious disputes, Justice Anthony Kennedy plays a crucial role in a Supreme Court that may soon veer off in an extreme rightward direction.
:
David "Duff" Dretzin had a big heart, a social conscience and a keen
sense of humor. He will be missed.
Martha Nussbaum : International law offers protection to the oppressed. In Are Women Human?, feminist legal scholar Catharine A. MacKinnon exposes the hypocrisy of not extending the same protection to women.
Linda Colley
:
Two new histories of British imperial rule in India take the narrow
view. In fact, the scandal of empire can be isolated neither to Europe
nor to the past.
Stuart Klawans : Reviews of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Edmond, The Motel, Gabrielle, Time to Leave and The Blood of My Brother.
Calvin Trillin
:
There's not a lot anyone needs to know.
Patricia J. Williams
:
The digital environs of Facebook and MySpace are ruled by assortive
principles and the misplaced faith that an actuarial table is any kind
of community--beloved, political or otherwise.
Eric Alterman : In wartime, you lose the luxury of choosing your allies: The Bush Administration's attacks on the New York Times are attacks on us all.
Robert Scheer : By saying that the Israel-Lebanon crisis simply represents the "birth pangs of a new Middle East," Condoleezza Rice underscored the Bush Administration's blindness to the disastrous effects its foreign policy has wrought.
Ari Melber : As progressive bloggers seek the ouster of Joe Lieberman, they have recruited "Reagan Democrat" Jim Webb to challenge George Allen in Virginia. What does this say about netroots Democrats' emerging electoral strategy--if there is one?
Nicholas von Hoffman : Why go to a real college? Enroll in Donald Trump's virtual university and you'll learn all you need to know for $29 or your money back!
Elsie Fox : Fighting words from a 98-year-old activist about the power of the people to demand peace and achieve peace justice in these troubled times.
Adam Shatz : To some observers, the attacks orchestrated by Sheik Sayed Hassan Nasrallah that detonated Israel's ruthless assault on Lebanon look like a death wish--but it's almost impossible to defeat someone who has no fear of death.
Nicholas von Hoffman : The targeting of civilians in Gaza and Lebanon summons the image of Picasso's wrenching mural that memorialized innocents caught in the crossfire.
Ian Williams : The United Nations can be a useful tool in settling the current crisis in Lebanon and Gaza, but only with US support. It is up to President Bush to get on the phone to Ehud Olmert and tell him to stop.
Graham Usher : The fragile peace process between India and Pakistan fell apart after last week's grisly commuter train bombings.
Anna G. Arutunyan : As Vladimir Putin played host to the G-8 summit, opposition groups from the right and left staged events that challenged Putin's authority and paraded their grievances to Western media. It was not their finest hour.
Robert Scheer : Bush's boorish comments at the G-8 summit revealed more than his ignorance of the Mideast: His policies have made the US a helpless bystander as the entire region burns.
Mark Hertsgaard : As leaders of the world's richest nations gather in St. Petersburg to craft a global energy security strategy, they're poised to endorse a major expansion of nuclear power. Bad idea.
Emily Amick : Katha Pollitt answers questions about feminism, politics and her new book, Virginity or Death! And Other Pressing Social Issues of Our Times.
Annia Ciezadlo : As Lebanon braces for a descent into an all-too-familiar chaos, fear, anger and the quest for comfort have sent Beirutis to the streets in search of bread and someone to blame for destroying their hope for a sane future.
Aziz Huq : As the Bush Administration continues to exercise an inordinate amount of power, will the Supreme Court's Hamdan v. Rumsfeld ruling become a guidepost for future government or a last lonely relic of a proud lost era?
Dave Zirin & Derek Tyner : After pressure from the local newspaper and the City Council questioning the use of sweatshop labor to create Pittsburgh Pirates regalia, Major League Baseball seems willing to listen to activists' complaints.
: The spreading violence in Lebanon and Gaza demonstrate that the collective punishment of the Palestinian and Lebanese people is not only inhumane and should be condemned but also leads to more radicalization and to more chaos.
William Greider : The former Treasury Secretary speaks candidly on the inherent inequities of globalization and the political, social and economic challenges that lie ahead.
Cover by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels