And a Half-Brother in China, Too

And a Half-Brother in China, Too

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

To follow up on Chris’s excellent commentary on the Obama-Wright media firestorm from this afternoon, here’s the tally on how McCain has comparatively fared with the press (via FAIR):

946 references to Obama’s ties with Rezko. 352 references to McCain’s ties with lobbyist Iseman.478 references to Farrakhan’s endorsement of Obama.123 references to the McCain-Hagee relationship.

Also, in absolutely inane op-ed today, Roger Cohen–voila! has discovered that Obama has a half-brother in China. Cohen evidently here is taking on the heavy responsibility of trying to preemptively deflect right-wing attacks on Obama because to date, “not enough has been written about Obama’s family.” (Hasn’t he read the book? Or a newspaper over the past year?) I’d like to think there’s some kind of knotted logic that makes the not-very-sensational fact that Obama has a half-brother who lives in China an even plausibly credible news hook, but if it’s there, I’m not seeing it.

Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation

Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.

We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.

In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen. 

Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering. 

With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now. 

While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account. 

I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel 

Editor and publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x