August 4, 2008 Issue

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

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Feature

Blackwater’s Not Going Anywhere

Anyone who thinks Blackwater is in serious trouble is dead wrong. Business has never been better for Blackwater and its future looks bright.
Jeremy Scahill
Obama From the Agora

Assessing Barack Obama’s mythic destiny: will he become more Athenian than Spartan?
Tom Hayden
Woman in the House

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks about politics, sexism, impeachment, Obama, and her own personal VP pick.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Colombia’s Heart of Darkness in NYC–and DC

Colombia paramilitary leaders extradited to face stiff US drug charges will dodge accountability for their atrocities. Rights watchers say their victims now have little chance for justice.
Bill Weinberg
Among the Missing

This Week: Congresswoman Kang takes a powder, her chief of staff Chet Kimbrough is on the mend and two plotting lovers get vamped on.
Gary Phillips
Extreme Water Emergencies

Floods, drought, pollution, wildfires: summer’s extreme water conditions afflicting the United States this summer are a call to action. Why are we helpless?
Elizabeth de la Vega
Women’s Advocate Is UN’s New Human Rights Chief

Despite the Bush Administration’s scramble to scuttle her nomination because she is–gasp!–a feminist, a South African judge is named high commissioner for human rights.
Barbara Crossette
Obama’s Berlin Visit

A nation whose citizens have been largely turned off to politics held Barack Obama in a fervent embrace, viewing America once again as a place of new possibilities.
Norman Birnbaum
Obama in Israel: One Tough Audience

The media was enthused, but ordinary Israelis, cynical about their own political leaders, gave Obama a muted reception. The refrain here is “No, they can’t,” not “Yes, he can.”
Hillel Schenker
Dispatch from Minnesota: Al Franken v. Norm Coleman

By campaigning in the tradition of his hero, Paul Wellstone, Al Franken may have triumphed over the biggest threat to his candidacy–voter skepticism.
Alexander Zaitchik
The End of History: With a Period, Not a Question Mark

Palestinians lament the Israeli-built wall and life under occupation, and fear permanent restricted access to the holy city of Jerusalem.
Phyllis Bennis
Attack of the Global Pirate Bankers

For decades, the world’s largest banks have been helping wealthy Americans steal billions in unpaid taxes. What are we going to do about it?
James S. Henry
Hall of Fame Shut-Out

A conspiracy of management cronies is blocking 91-year-old union pioneer Marvin Miller from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Peter Dreier and Kelly Candaele
Radovan Karadzic Captured After 12 Years on the Run

Radovan Karadzic, captured after twelve years on the run, possessed extraordinary levels of intellect, cruelty and power. And power wielded in a time of war comes at great price, which he is about to pay.
Slavenka Drakulic
Obama in Iraq: The Gift of a Timetable

An Iraqi government desperate for credibility could receive no better gift than Obama’s exit plan.
Patrick Cockburn
Daydreaming and I’m Thinking of You

This Week: Congresswoman Kang takes a cruise, gets some strategic advice from Ho Chi Minh and finds that this is but a pause before the big showdown.
Gary Phillips
Netroots Nation Diggs Pelosi, Tubes Obama

Every major Democratic player came to Texas to engage with online activists who have been key to their success. So why do netroots continue to be cast as angry and estranged?
Ari Melber
Obama in Afghanistan: Careful What You Wish For

He says Afghanistan is the war America should be fighting. But on this much-ballyhooed listening tour, will he be hearing anything he doesn’t already know?
Graham Usher
Maliki’s Obama Endorsement

In a huge setback for John McCain and the Bush Administration, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki endorses Barack Obama’s timeline for withdrawal–and the presumptive Democratic nominee could reap a windfall.
Tom Hayden
Nine Reasons to Investigate War Crimes Now

Some Democrats are pushing to let bygones be bygones and concentrate instead on solving problems of the future. Here’s why we can’t let the Bush Administration off the hook.
Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
A West Bank Town’s Fight to Survive

The residents of the town of Ni’lin continue to fight Israel’s efforts to take away their land. Is anyone listening?
Neve Gordon
Building the Future

A report from the Roosevelt Institution student policy expo.
Bobby Allyn
More Meddling at Gitmo

New evidence sheds light on the inappropriate and corrupting influence of Brig. General Thomas Hartmann on the military commissions process.
Ross Tuttle
Minority Bloggers Fight Inequality

Minority journalists are discovering new opportunities–and the same old barriers–online.
Amy Alexander
MoveOn.Org Is Not as Radical as Conservatives Think

It’s given voice to a new silent majority–and made a few enemies. Now what?
Chris Hayes

Editorial

The Suicide Solution

Believe it or not, suicide is becoming an increasingly popular response to dealing with debt.
Barbara Ehrenreich
Make Freddie and Fannie Go Green

Don’t just bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: require them to start building environmentally responsible homes.
James S. Henry and Brent Blackwelder
Summer of the Superhero

Superhero-themed films are dominating the summer box office. Is it just about the bottom line or our national longing for genuine heroism?
Adam Howard
The Nation Sues the Government

The Nation joins the ACLU and several other organizations and attorneys in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the FISA act.
The Editors
Obama as Sex Symbol

A desperately needy America warms to the hot married love of Barack and Michelle.
JoAnn Wypijewski
Noted.

Ari Melber tracks the continuing fight over FISA; Stuart Klawans remembers Thomas Disch.
The Editors
Obama and Iraq

His plan to exit Iraq falls far short of the complete withdrawal most Americans want. But it’s a place to start.
The Editors
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Column

A Bipartisan Lovefest With Bankers

This is a time to condemn the banking industry, not embrace it. So what do McCain and Obama think they’re doing?
Robert Scheer
How Wall Street Wrecked Your Retirement

The architects of America’s disfunctional financial system allowed Wall Street gamble with our retirement savings–and now they appear to have lost it.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Obama on the Brink

Barack Obama is betraying his promise of change and is in danger of becoming just another political hack. Please prove me wrong.
Robert Scheer
When COINTELPRO Came to Town

The Maryland State Police’s Department of Homeland Security has devoted hundreds of hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars to harassing people whose only crime was opposing the war in Iraq and the death penalty.
Dave Zirin
Indiscreet Conversations

Jesse Jackson’s gaffe demonstrates that the days of being able to think out loud are over.
Gary Younge
I Read the News Today… Oh Boy

While some of America’s smartest and most civic-minded people are trying to save daily newspapers, the media moguls who can make a difference seem to be completely off their rockers.
Eric Alterman
Phil Gramm Says We’re a Nation of Whiners

And who do you think caused the pain?
Calvin Trillin
Another New Yorker Cover

Edgy, controversial, hard-hitting… and funny.
Stephff

Books & the Arts

Obama From the Agora

Assessing Barack Obama’s mythic destiny: will he become more Athenian than Spartan?
Tom Hayden
Staged Reading

How Judith Thompson’s play about Abu Ghraib falls short.
Alisa Solomon
Summer of the Superhero

Superhero-themed films are dominating the summer box office. Is it just about the bottom line or our national longing for genuine heroism?
Adam Howard
A Powerful Novel about Tiananmen Square

An epic portrait of the Tiananmen Square protests, Ma Jian’s Beijing Coma is one hell of a powerful novel.
Melissa Holbrook Pierson
Intergenerational Turmoil in China

Three recent books trace the generational fault lines of the Confucian family during China’s past and present revolutions.
Matt Steinglass
A Powerful Counterhistory of China

A collection of oral histories reveal a new understanding of the modern Chinese experience.
Howard W. French
Archival Footage, Subjects Unidentified

Someone knew once
but we’ve forgotten
who and on what
street, which now-
emptied town.
Brittle-film bodies
waver or coalesce
Nancy Kuhl
Back Talk: Raj Patel

Writer and activist Raj Patel explains why shopping better won’t solve the food crisis.
Christine Smallwood
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

Letters

Readers weigh in on our inequality issue; Ari Berman responds to his critics.
Our Readers and Ari Berman

Crossword

Puzzle No. 3132

ACROSS

1 What the monks might be doing with Charles the detective less formally, with a ringing sound. (8)
Frank W. Lewis
Crossword Classic #10

From the December 20, 1947, issue.
Frank W. Lewis
Crossword Classic #9

From the December 13, 1947, issue.
Frank W. Lewis

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August 4, 2008 Issue

Feature

Anyone who thinks Blackwater is in serious trouble is dead wrong. Business has never been better for Blackwater and its future looks bright.

Assessing Barack Obama’s mythic destiny: will he become more Athenian than Spartan?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks about politics, sexism, impeachment, Obama, and her own personal VP pick.

Colombia paramilitary leaders extradited to face stiff US drug charges will dodge accountability for their atrocities. Rights watchers say their victims now have little chance for justice.

This Week: Congresswoman Kang takes a powder, her chief of staff Chet Kimbrough is on the mend and two plotting lovers get vamped on.

Floods, drought, pollution, wildfires: summer’s extreme water conditions afflicting the United States this summer are a call to action. Why are we helpless?

Despite the Bush Administration’s scramble to scuttle her nomination because she is–gasp!–a feminist, a South African judge is named high commissioner for human rights.

A nation whose citizens have been largely turned off to politics held Barack Obama in a fervent embrace, viewing America once again as a place of new possibilities.

The media was enthused, but ordinary Israelis, cynical about their own political leaders, gave Obama a muted reception. The refrain here is “No, they can’t,” not “Yes, he can.”

By campaigning in the tradition of his hero, Paul Wellstone, Al Franken may have triumphed over the biggest threat to his candidacy–voter skepticism.

Palestinians lament the Israeli-built wall and life under occupation, and fear permanent restricted access to the holy city of Jerusalem.

For decades, the world’s largest banks have been helping wealthy Americans steal billions in unpaid taxes. What are we going to do about it?

A conspiracy of management cronies is blocking 91-year-old union pioneer Marvin Miller from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Radovan Karadzic, captured after twelve years on the run, possessed extraordinary levels of intellect, cruelty and power. And power wielded in a time of war comes at great price, which he is about to pay.

An Iraqi government desperate for credibility could receive no better gift than Obama’s exit plan.

This Week: Congresswoman Kang takes a cruise, gets some strategic advice from Ho Chi Minh and finds that this is but a pause before the big showdown.

Every major Democratic player came to Texas to engage with online activists who have been key to their success. So why do netroots continue to be cast as angry and estranged?

He says Afghanistan is the war America should be fighting. But on this much-ballyhooed listening tour, will he be hearing anything he doesn’t already know?

In a huge setback for John McCain and the Bush Administration, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki endorses Barack Obama’s timeline for withdrawal–and the presumptive Democratic nominee could reap a windfall.

Some Democrats are pushing to let bygones be bygones and concentrate instead on solving problems of the future. Here’s why we can’t let the Bush Administration off the hook.

The residents of the town of Ni’lin continue to fight Israel’s efforts to take away their land. Is anyone listening?

A report from the Roosevelt Institution student policy expo.

New evidence sheds light on the inappropriate and corrupting influence of Brig. General Thomas Hartmann on the military commissions process.

Minority journalists are discovering new opportunities–and the same old barriers–online.

It’s given voice to a new silent majority–and made a few enemies. Now what?

Editorial

Believe it or not, suicide is becoming an increasingly popular response to dealing with debt.

Don’t just bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: require them to start building environmentally responsible homes.

Superhero-themed films are dominating the summer box office. Is it just about the bottom line or our national longing for genuine heroism?

The Nation joins the ACLU and several other organizations and attorneys in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the FISA act.

A desperately needy America warms to the hot married love of Barack and Michelle.

Ari Melber tracks the continuing fight over FISA; Stuart Klawans remembers Thomas Disch.

His plan to exit Iraq falls far short of the complete withdrawal most Americans want. But it’s a place to start.

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

Column

This is a time to condemn the banking industry, not embrace it. So what do McCain and Obama think they’re doing?

The architects of America’s disfunctional financial system allowed Wall Street gamble with our retirement savings–and now they appear to have lost it.

Barack Obama is betraying his promise of change and is in danger of becoming just another political hack. Please prove me wrong.

The Maryland State Police’s Department of Homeland Security has devoted hundreds of hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars to harassing people whose only crime was opposing the war in Iraq and the death penalty.

Jesse Jackson’s gaffe demonstrates that the days of being able to think out loud are over.

While some of America’s smartest and most civic-minded people are trying to save daily newspapers, the media moguls who can make a difference seem to be completely off their rockers.

And who do you think caused the pain?

Edgy, controversial, hard-hitting… and funny.

Books & the Arts

Assessing Barack Obama’s mythic destiny: will he become more Athenian than Spartan?

How Judith Thompson’s play about Abu Ghraib falls short.

Superhero-themed films are dominating the summer box office. Is it just about the bottom line or our national longing for genuine heroism?

An epic portrait of the Tiananmen Square protests, Ma Jian’s Beijing Coma is one hell of a powerful novel.

Three recent books trace the generational fault lines of the Confucian family during China’s past and present revolutions.

A collection of oral histories reveal a new understanding of the modern Chinese experience.

Someone knew once but we’ve forgotten who and on what street, which now- emptied town. Brittle-film bodies waver or coalesce

Someone knew once
but we’ve forgotten
who and on what
street, which now-
emptied town.
Brittle-film bodies
waver or coalesce