August 28, 2006 Issue

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

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Feature

Librarians at the Gates

At a time when free expression and the right to privacy are under attack, librarians are on the front lines protecting our constitutional rights every day. Here are five who are making a difference.
Joseph Huff-Hannon
Ground Zero for Immigration

A recent rally at the World Trade Center site displayed anti-immigration activists’ latest tactics: distorting the truth and exploiting national security concerns.
Ali Winston
The Strange Silence of Günter Grass

By concealing for a near-lifetime that he had served in the Waffen SS, literary giant Günter Grass treated himself with an indulgence he did not hesitate to deem a moral defect in others. And for that, we are all losers.
Norman Birnbaum
Congress Poised to Unravel the Internet

Senator Ted Stevens has no idea how the Internet works, but he’s asking Congress to remake it to suit the interests of the telecommunications industry. Can progressives apply the pressure to kill this bill?
Jeffrey Chester
Troops and Hoops

There’s something unnerving about USA Basketball’s motivational tactics for the 2006 world championship–encouraging players to spend time with wounded Iraq veterans, in hopes of enhancing teamwork and patriotism.
Dave Zirin
Groundhog Day

From all official statements so far, the August 10 terror plot uncovered in Britain was the biggest thing since 9/11. But then again, perhaps it wasn’t. It’s not too early to ask the questions on which a final judgment must depend.
James K. Galbraith
From the Streets to the Polls

Young, US-born Hispanics who took to the streets to push for immigrant rights are hoping to become a potent political force in the midterm elections and beyond.
Paloma Esquivel
The Hard Edge of Hatred

American white supremacist groups have a long and ugly history of using anxieties over immigration as a recruitment tool. It’s happening again, with a vengeance.
Chip Berlet
Life in a Post-Carbon World

If we are to survive and prosper in an oil-short world, we must not only think outside the box–we must get rid of the box. We must abandon the long-held idea that growth is the path to achieve every national goal.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Cease-Fire and Frustration

After thirty-one days of war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and more than 1,000 dead, the United Nations has finally passed a cease-fire. Now what?
Ian Williams
The Semantics of Terror

The easy invocation of “terrorism”–whether by pundits or political leaders–is not just sloppy use of language. It is precisely targeted phrasing intended to terrorize dissent.
Ian Williams
The Problem with Pundits

Pro-Lieberman Beltway pundits who whined about progressive bloggers and sounded noisy alarms about the disastrous impact of a Lamont win will have a lot of explaining to do come November.
Eric Boehlert
Locked and Loaded

The Minutemen have been transformed from an extremist “citizen border patrol” to part of the neocon establishment. Has their leader sold out, or bought in?
Susy Buchanan and David Holthouse
Same Old Song

American history is marked by waves of immigrants–from Germans in the eighteenth century to Mexicans in the twenty-first–and by nativist backlashes against them.
Daniel Tichenor
Nightly Nativism

CNN pundit Lou Dobbs has made himself a “specialist” in channeling nativist, nationalist and even white supremacist rhetoric.
Daphne Eviatar
White Heat

Welcome to Nashville, Tennessee, the unlikely symbol of the biggest American immigrant resettlement since the Industrial Revolution. It’s also the white-hot nexus of the new American nativism.
Bob Moser

Editorial

Lessons Learned

As a tentative ceasefire takes hold between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the world–and the United States in particular–should ponder lessons learned and the price we will pay for our role in the conflict.
Saree Makdisi
Dorothy Healey

An appreciation of one of the last members of the left’s “greatest generation,” known for her physical courage, warmth and intelligence, who spent a lifetime arguing eloquently for socialism, feminism and peace.
Mike Davis
Murray Bookchin

Murray Bookchin, who died on July 30 at 85, was a protean son of the left whose intellectual hegira took him from Communism through Trotskyism, anarchism and social ecology.
The Editors
A Bankrupt Cuba Policy

As Iraq burns and Castro recovers, the Bush Administration’s schemes to further “Cuba’s transition to democracy” ring more hollow than ever.
Wayne S. Smith
The New Nativism

The nation must address the working-class anxieties underlying the anti-Hispanic sentiments now rising in Middle America–and Congress must pass an enlightened immigration bill that is both sensible and humane.
The Editors
Crisis in Lebanon

The inactivity of the Bush Administration on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is armchair warfare against the interests of all. For peace, we must press for an immediate cease-fire.
The Editors
Lamont Wins

As the Democratic Party embraces Ned Lamont, it must also embrace his antiwar message: It proved a winning strategy for Connecticut, and will be for the midterm elections.
The Editors
Mercenary Jackpot

As the United States decries the private militias of Lebanon and Iraq, GOP-connected, privately owned global mercenary firms receive blank checks and little oversight.
Jeremy Scahill
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Column

Truth Time for Democrats

Democrats must transcend all their intraparty squabbles over the war in Iraq and focus on the obligation of politicians to be honest with the public.
Robert Scheer
Cuba’s Pathbreaking Energy Policies

As the world grows short of oil, nations in search of a viable energy policy should take a lesson from Cuba, which turned to sustainable agriculture to offset its own oil crisis.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Old Threats, New Fears

Investigators have known for a decade about terrorist plots to bring down passenger jets with liquid explosives. So why, all of a sudden, did Bush ban most liquids on flights?
Robert Scheer
Neocon Dreams, American Nightmares

Four wars at once? Led by this crew? Are the people who run this country, enabled by neo-con pundits, dangerously out of their minds?
Eric Alterman
The Hydra of Jim Crow

Teaching children to speak across boundaries is the essence of what integration is all about. It carries all the urgency of global peace.
Patricia J. Williams
‘Mushroom Cloud’ Rice, The Icy Spinmeister, Tries Again

Condi takes her “birth pangs” mantra on the road.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

Inside the Alleged Mind of Bill O’Reilly

Looking for a blast of hot air? Two intrepid literary critics venture deep into the steaming, muddy jungles of the Fox News pundit’s award-losing prose.
Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer
The Strange Silence of Günter Grass

By concealing for a near-lifetime that he had served in the Waffen SS, literary giant Günter Grass treated himself with an indulgence he did not hesitate to deem a moral defect in others. And for that, we are all losers.
Norman Birnbaum
Fierce Convictions

Every other week, in the pages of this magazine, Katha Pollitt collects her thoughts in her column, “Subject to Debate.” To say that Pollitt’s column is a hotbed of feminist polemic is only par
Sarah Goldstein
The Magic Bus

Reviews of Little Miss Sunshine, Quinceañera, My Country, My Country, The Pusher Trilogy and The Bridesmaid.
Stuart Klawans
A Letter from 18 Writers

Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Toni Morrison and other luminaries call to resist Israel’s undeclared political aim: the liquidation of the Palestinian state.
The Nation
The Prison Notebooks

Nikolai Bukharin’s Philosophical Arabesques is more than a cul-de-sac on the road from Marx to Stalin; the book defines a political path still not taken.
Ronald Grigor Suny
Journals of the Purge Years

Revolution on My Mind is a new analysis of personal diaries written in the shadow of Stalin.
Sheila Fitzpatrick
Same Old Song

American history is marked by waves of immigrants–from Germans in the eighteenth century to Mexicans in the twenty-first–and by nativist backlashes against them.
Daniel Tichenor
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

CUFI Explains Its Motives

Max Blumenthal’s recent article, “ Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism,” contains a number of inaccuracies and misr
The Nation
Letters

DEATH PENALTY: LEGALIZED LYNCHING?

New York City
Our Readers and Andrew Gumbel

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August 28, 2006 Issue

Feature

At a time when free expression and the right to privacy are under attack, librarians are on the front lines protecting our constitutional rights every day. Here are five who are making a difference.

A recent rally at the World Trade Center site displayed anti-immigration activists’ latest tactics: distorting the truth and exploiting national security concerns.

By concealing for a near-lifetime that he had served in the Waffen SS, literary giant Günter Grass treated himself with an indulgence he did not hesitate to deem a moral defect in others. And for that, we are all losers.

Senator Ted Stevens has no idea how the Internet works, but he’s asking Congress to remake it to suit the interests of the telecommunications industry. Can progressives apply the pressure to kill this bill?

There’s something unnerving about USA Basketball’s motivational tactics for the 2006 world championship–encouraging players to spend time with wounded Iraq veterans, in hopes of enhancing teamwork and patriotism.

From all official statements so far, the August 10 terror plot uncovered in Britain was the biggest thing since 9/11. But then again, perhaps it wasn’t. It’s not too early to ask the questions on which a final judgment must depend.

Young, US-born Hispanics who took to the streets to push for immigrant rights are hoping to become a potent political force in the midterm elections and beyond.

American white supremacist groups have a long and ugly history of using anxieties over immigration as a recruitment tool. It’s happening again, with a vengeance.

If we are to survive and prosper in an oil-short world, we must not only think outside the box–we must get rid of the box. We must abandon the long-held idea that growth is the path to achieve every national goal.

After thirty-one days of war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and more than 1,000 dead, the United Nations has finally passed a cease-fire. Now what?

The easy invocation of “terrorism”–whether by pundits or political leaders–is not just sloppy use of language. It is precisely targeted phrasing intended to terrorize dissent.

Pro-Lieberman Beltway pundits who whined about progressive bloggers and sounded noisy alarms about the disastrous impact of a Lamont win will have a lot of explaining to do come November.

The Minutemen have been transformed from an extremist “citizen border patrol” to part of the neocon establishment. Has their leader sold out, or bought in?

American history is marked by waves of immigrants–from Germans in the eighteenth century to Mexicans in the twenty-first–and by nativist backlashes against them.

CNN pundit Lou Dobbs has made himself a “specialist” in channeling nativist, nationalist and even white supremacist rhetoric.

Welcome to Nashville, Tennessee, the unlikely symbol of the biggest American immigrant resettlement since the Industrial Revolution. It’s also the white-hot nexus of the new American nativism.

Editorial

As a tentative ceasefire takes hold between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the world–and the United States in particular–should ponder lessons learned and the price we will pay for our role in the conflict.

An appreciation of one of the last members of the left’s “greatest generation,” known for her physical courage, warmth and intelligence, who spent a lifetime arguing eloquently for socialism, feminism and peace.

Murray Bookchin, who died on July 30 at 85, was a protean son of the left whose intellectual hegira took him from Communism through Trotskyism, anarchism and social ecology.

As Iraq burns and Castro recovers, the Bush Administration’s schemes to further “Cuba’s transition to democracy” ring more hollow than ever.

The nation must address the working-class anxieties underlying the anti-Hispanic sentiments now rising in Middle America–and Congress must pass an enlightened immigration bill that is both sensible and humane.

The inactivity of the Bush Administration on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict is armchair warfare against the interests of all. For peace, we must press for an immediate cease-fire.

As the Democratic Party embraces Ned Lamont, it must also embrace his antiwar message: It proved a winning strategy for Connecticut, and will be for the midterm elections.

As the United States decries the private militias of Lebanon and Iraq, GOP-connected, privately owned global mercenary firms receive blank checks and little oversight.

GET UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS FOR LESS THAN $3 A MONTH!

Column

Democrats must transcend all their intraparty squabbles over the war in Iraq and focus on the obligation of politicians to be honest with the public.

As the world grows short of oil, nations in search of a viable energy policy should take a lesson from Cuba, which turned to sustainable agriculture to offset its own oil crisis.

Investigators have known for a decade about terrorist plots to bring down passenger jets with liquid explosives. So why, all of a sudden, did Bush ban most liquids on flights?

Four wars at once? Led by this crew? Are the people who run this country, enabled by neo-con pundits, dangerously out of their minds?

Teaching children to speak across boundaries is the essence of what integration is all about. It carries all the urgency of global peace.

Condi takes her “birth pangs” mantra on the road.

Books & the Arts

Looking for a blast of hot air? Two intrepid literary critics venture deep into the steaming, muddy jungles of the Fox News pundit’s award-losing prose.

By concealing for a near-lifetime that he had served in the Waffen SS, literary giant Günter Grass treated himself with an indulgence he did not hesitate to deem a moral defect in others. And for that, we are all losers.

Every other week, in the pages of this magazine, Katha Pollitt collects her thoughts in her column, “Subject to Debate.” To say that Pollitt’s column is a hotbed of feminist polemic is only par

Reviews of Little Miss Sunshine, Quinceañera, My Country, My Country, The Pusher Trilogy and The Bridesmaid.

Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Toni Morrison and other luminaries call to resist Israel’s undeclared political aim: the liquidation of the Palestinian state.

Nikolai Bukharin’s Philosophical Arabesques is more than a cul-de-sac on the road from Marx to Stalin; the book defines a political path still not taken.

Revolution on My Mind is a new analysis of personal diaries written in the shadow of Stalin.

American history is marked by waves of immigrants–from Germans in the eighteenth century to Mexicans in the twenty-first–and by nativist backlashes against them.

The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

Letters

Max Blumenthal’s recent article, “ Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism,” contains a number of inaccuracies and misr

DEATH PENALTY: LEGALIZED LYNCHING? New York City

DEATH PENALTY: LEGALIZED LYNCHING?

New York City