February 6, 2006 Issue

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

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Feature

President Jonah

As his State of the Union message approaches, we deserve a rest from the fundamentalist presidency of G.W. Bush, whose guiding principles are antithetical to democracy and will only accelerate our decline.

Gore Vidal
Eating Ourselves to Death

The toxic food industry is fueling a preventable epidemic of diabetes. Most vulnerable are poor children, barraged with ads urging them to eat the sugar and grease-laden food that will eventually kill them.
Nicholas von Hoffman
The Slave Side of Sunday

On the eve of the Super Bowl, former cornerback Anthony Prior raises hot-button allegations of racism in the National Football League.
Dave Zirin
Does the President Really Know Best?

OK, everyone who has studied the unitary executive theory of the presidency, raise your hand. Anyone? A former prosecutor examines what’s behind Bush’s legal fig leaf.
Elizabeth de la Vega
The Big Fix

Repair America’s infrastructure, starting with New Orleans; resettle displaced people in the city, give them construction jobs and pay all a fair wage.
Dennis Kucinich
Realistic Immigration

Grant legal status to hard-working, tax-paying immigrants; give up the illusion that law enforcement alone will solve immigration problems.
Hilda Solis
Raising Up Youth

Insure funding for programs with proven success rehabilitating violent youths and avoid the failures of the prison system.
Diane Watson
Good Government

Elect a Democratic Congress in 2006; restore ethics to Congress; block the appointment of cronies to key posts; stop the politicization of science.
Henry Waxman
Education Mobilization

Establish a first-rate education system to draw on our greatest untapped human resource: the children of our inner cities.
Major Owens
Saving Small Farmers

Give small farmers and ranchers help to compete with global agricultural giants; enact farmer-friendly solutions to existing destructive trade policies.
Marcy Kaptur
Coming Clean and Green

Rein in political and business interests that degrade the environment; pass the Apollo Energy Act to provide incentives for clean technology.
Raul Grijalva
A Unified Security Budget

We need a unified security budget to coherently allocate dollars to the military, homeland security and peacemaking efforts abroad.
Rep. John Conyers
Out of Iraq

Elect Congressional candidates who promise to end the occupation of Iraq and bring our soldiers home.
Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee
Accountable Corporations

Insure that the federal purse supports a progressive vision of economic progress that benefits all Americans.
Sheila Jackson Lee
Model Healthcare

Pass new legislation to insure the best healthcare for America’s military personnel and make the Veterans Administration a model healthcare system.
Bob Filner
Intelligent Reform

Rein in the Bush Administration’s culture of official secrecy and restore Congressional oversight of intelligence operations.
John Tierney
Employee Free Choice

Pass the Employee Free Choice Act to create more unions, keep workers safe from labor-law violations, preserve middle-class jobs and stabilize the economy.
George Miller
More Media Owners

Stop the dumbing down of America: Enact real reform to prevent the shrinking market of ideas caused by concentration of media properties in the hands of the few.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey
A Patriotic Challenge

Preserve our nation’s core democratic principles by introducing significant reforms to the Patriot Act.
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Medicare for All

Create a stable healthcare system. Start by expanding the current Medicare system to cover more children and vulnerable adults.
Pete Stark
Patriot Corporations

Pass new laws that reward companies that care about America, its workers and its communities.
Jan Schakowsky
A War We Can Win

Win the global war against disease–AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and pandemics. America must deliver more food, medicine and development aid to poorer nations.
Jim McDermott
The Right to Vote

Approve a Voting Rights Amendment to the Constitution, granting all the right to vote; craft a unitary voting system for federal, state and local elections, guaranteeing an honest and efficient count.
Jesse Jackson Jr.

Editorial

When Will US Women Demand Peace?

Polls show large numbers of American women have grave doubts about the Iraq War: But where are they? A new campaign aims to mobilize American women for global protests March 8.
Medea Benjamin
In Fact…

CHILE’S CHOICE
The Editors
T(r)apped

R.O. Blechman
A Is for Anti-Woman

What’s at stake for women if Samuel Alito is confirmed to the US Supreme Court? Reproductive rights are only the tip of the iceberg.
Sharon Lerner
The Alito Failure

As Samuel Alito cruises toward confirmation, the process of vetting him demonstrates the price we pay for one-party government.
Bruce Shapiro
Ethics-Go-Round

The House Ethics Committee has been defunct for a year: If now is not the time for both parties to get serious on Congressional ethics, when will it be?
Ari Berman
Rocking the House

The time is ripe for progressives to revitalize the state of our union: Americans are ready to undo the damage of the Bush era and turn to a just and peaceful future.
The Editors
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Column

You’ve Got Jail

Obsessed voyeurs in the Bush Administration are poking their noses into everyone’s business, with the help of Internet giants like Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo.
Robert Scheer
Never Mind the Truth…

Coverage of the Alito hearings revealed once again that there is no liberal bias in mainstream media.
Eric Alterman
Foggy Bottom

If we are suspending the law in deference to Bush’s unchecked impulses, let’s call it by its proper name: Benign lawlessness? Gitmo Governance? Fear Factor?
Patricia J. Williams
George W. Bush Explains the ‘Signing Statement’ Issued When He Signed John McCain’s Anti-Torture Amendment Into Law

Using special “signing” language, the torturer-in-chief shows the world who’s boss.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

President Jonah

As his State of the Union message approaches, we deserve a rest from the fundamentalist presidency of G.W. Bush, whose guiding principles are antithetical to democracy and will only accelerate our decline.

Gore Vidal
Soul Eyes

Fra Angelico’s genius for depicting the interior life–states of love, spirituality or anguish–is stirring the interest of contemporary artists.
Arthur C. Danto
Just Us

Three books examine American history through the scope of racism and racial identity.
David Oshinsky
Pity the Region

Robert Fisk’s The Great War for Civilization criticizes a self-righteous US foreign policy oblivious to the power of retributive justice in the Middle East.
Augustus Richard Norton
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Letters

Letters

FISA–NOT THE MAGNA CARTA

Cheverly, Md.
David Yaffe and Our Readers

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February 6, 2006 Issue

Feature

As his State of the Union message approaches, we deserve a rest from the fundamentalist presidency of G.W. Bush, whose guiding principles are antithetical to democracy and will only accelerate our decline.

The toxic food industry is fueling a preventable epidemic of diabetes. Most vulnerable are poor children, barraged with ads urging them to eat the sugar and grease-laden food that will eventually kill them.

On the eve of the Super Bowl, former cornerback Anthony Prior raises hot-button allegations of racism in the National Football League.

OK, everyone who has studied the unitary executive theory of the presidency, raise your hand. Anyone? A former prosecutor examines what’s behind Bush’s legal fig leaf.

Repair America’s infrastructure, starting with New Orleans; resettle displaced people in the city, give them construction jobs and pay all a fair wage.

Grant legal status to hard-working, tax-paying immigrants; give up the illusion that law enforcement alone will solve immigration problems.

Insure funding for programs with proven success rehabilitating violent youths and avoid the failures of the prison system.

Elect a Democratic Congress in 2006; restore ethics to Congress; block the appointment of cronies to key posts; stop the politicization of science.

Establish a first-rate education system to draw on our greatest untapped human resource: the children of our inner cities.

Give small farmers and ranchers help to compete with global agricultural giants; enact farmer-friendly solutions to existing destructive trade policies.

Rein in political and business interests that degrade the environment; pass the Apollo Energy Act to provide incentives for clean technology.

We need a unified security budget to coherently allocate dollars to the military, homeland security and peacemaking efforts abroad.

Elect Congressional candidates who promise to end the occupation of Iraq and bring our soldiers home.

Insure that the federal purse supports a progressive vision of economic progress that benefits all Americans.

Pass new legislation to insure the best healthcare for America’s military personnel and make the Veterans Administration a model healthcare system.

Rein in the Bush Administration’s culture of official secrecy and restore Congressional oversight of intelligence operations.

Pass the Employee Free Choice Act to create more unions, keep workers safe from labor-law violations, preserve middle-class jobs and stabilize the economy.

Stop the dumbing down of America: Enact real reform to prevent the shrinking market of ideas caused by concentration of media properties in the hands of the few.

Preserve our nation’s core democratic principles by introducing significant reforms to the Patriot Act.

Create a stable healthcare system. Start by expanding the current Medicare system to cover more children and vulnerable adults.

Pass new laws that reward companies that care about America, its workers and its communities.

Win the global war against disease–AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and pandemics. America must deliver more food, medicine and development aid to poorer nations.

Approve a Voting Rights Amendment to the Constitution, granting all the right to vote; craft a unitary voting system for federal, state and local elections, guaranteeing an honest and efficient count.

Editorial

Polls show large numbers of American women have grave doubts about the Iraq War: But where are they? A new campaign aims to mobilize American women for global protests March 8.

CHILE’S CHOICE

What’s at stake for women if Samuel Alito is confirmed to the US Supreme Court? Reproductive rights are only the tip of the iceberg.

As Samuel Alito cruises toward confirmation, the process of vetting him demonstrates the price we pay for one-party government.

The House Ethics Committee has been defunct for a year: If now is not the time for both parties to get serious on Congressional ethics, when will it be?

The time is ripe for progressives to revitalize the state of our union: Americans are ready to undo the damage of the Bush era and turn to a just and peaceful future.

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

Column

Obsessed voyeurs in the Bush Administration are poking their noses into everyone’s business, with the help of Internet giants like Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo.

Coverage of the Alito hearings revealed once again that there is no liberal bias in mainstream media.

If we are suspending the law in deference to Bush’s unchecked impulses, let’s call it by its proper name: Benign lawlessness? Gitmo Governance? Fear Factor?

Using special “signing” language, the torturer-in-chief shows the world who’s boss.

Books & the Arts

As his State of the Union message approaches, we deserve a rest from the fundamentalist presidency of G.W. Bush, whose guiding principles are antithetical to democracy and will only accelerate our decline.

Fra Angelico’s genius for depicting the interior life–states of love, spirituality or anguish–is stirring the interest of contemporary artists.

Three books examine American history through the scope of racism and racial identity.

Robert Fisk’s The Great War for Civilization criticizes a self-righteous US foreign policy oblivious to the power of retributive justice in the Middle East.

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

Letters

FISA–NOT THE MAGNA CARTA Cheverly, Md.

FISA–NOT THE MAGNA CARTA

Cheverly, Md.