Obama’s Bad Bargain Obama’s Bad Bargain
Take a dollar from working stiffs who need government, take a dollar from the super-rich who don’t need a tax break. How fair is that?
Jul 27, 2011 / William Greider
Europe’s New Fascists Europe’s New Fascists
Racism, not multiculturalism, poses the real threat to Europe’s future.
Jul 27, 2011 / Gary Younge
When Will the Press Wake Up and Blame Republicans? When Will the Press Wake Up and Blame Republicans?
The cult of objectivity requires Beltway journalists to ignore the GOP's culpability in creating this artificial crisis.
Jul 27, 2011 / Jamelle Bouie
Many Facets, No Overview: On the Venice Biennale Many Facets, No Overview: On the Venice Biennale
This year's edition of the Venice Biennale sinks under sprawl and overfamiliarity.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Hard Against Time: On Roy Fisher Hard Against Time: On Roy Fisher
The Midlands poet Roy Fisher has never aspired to a readership. All the more reason to welcome his Selected Poems.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon Let Us Dispute: On Isaac Casaubon
Isaac Casaubon was a model citizen of the republic of letters—a community more durable than any church and broader than academia.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Sam Stark
Yahoo! (A Lion, a Duke, the Tax-Rate Fungi) Yahoo! (A Lion, a Duke, the Tax-Rate Fungi)
If men read epic poetry in bed, And never change their Eeyore underwear, On bunny kidney they’ve unwisely fed: That’s whorehouse food, and most unwholesome fare. If lotus eaters kick spondaic asses, And love trochaic bunny ears the best, It starts a war between the lower classes And puts poetic hooey to the test. If op art poet laureates go bald, And end up haunting Fred on Scooby-Doo, It’s they who to a nunnery are hauled: They have some vinyl bunny ears for you. On Yahoo! you are only who you are, And no one there is anyone… so far.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / K. Silem Mohammad
Michele: A Serenade by Iowa Social Conservatives* Michele: A Serenade by Iowa Social Conservatives*
(With apologies to the Beatles) Michele, our belle, Thinks that gays will all be sent to hell. That’s Michele. Michele, our belle, Thinks they’re sick but could be made all well. Yes, Michele. She just needs to turn them toward Jesus. They’re going through a phase That leads to filthy ways. But with her hubby’s help these guys could All be John Wayne. Michele, our belle, Views you have are suiting us just swell. Our Michele. * Yiddish version (sung with schutzpah) titled “We Kvell, Michele.”
Jul 27, 2011 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Russian Hero Russian Hero
A bet on a horse in the 1949 Grand National resulted in the largest collective transfer of wealth ever to communism's stalwarts in Britain.
Jul 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Cockburn
Birth Control: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Birth Control: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Birth control is lifesaving medicine. Yet the myth that it is “controversial” persists.
Jul 27, 2011 / Column / Katha Pollitt