July 21, 2008 Issue

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

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Feature

Obama, Iraq and Afghanistan

Obama’s plan to de-escalate the war in Iraq only to ramp up another in Afghanistan just might work. It could also entrap the US in an even wider quagmire.
Tom Hayden
Bad Ju Ju

This Week: Congresswoman Kang is ill at ease as she contemplates the fate of her chief of staff and prepares to go to the source of part of her woes: secretive, manipulative billionaire Mace Gilmore.
Gary Phillips
A Short Till-Death-Do-Us-Part History of Bush’s Wars

In Bush’s wars, the singer dies, the bride does not get a chance to run away, and the event might be relabeled my big, fat, collateral damage wedding.
Tom Engelhardt
Raging Against Rising Internet Repression

More than 200 bloggers, human rights activists, writers, journalists, hackers and IT experts have joined the fight against censorship on the web.
Antony Loewenstein
Canada’s War Resisters

American military defectors are waging a campaign to achieve political asylum in Canada. As the threat of deportation grows, the fate of hundreds of former soldiers and their families hangs in the balance.
Will Di Novi
The Prisoner

This Week: Chet Kimbrough, Congresswoman’s Kang’s chief of staff, is bound and gagged, and it isn’t because he belongs to an S&M club. There is no safe word for him.
Gary Phillips
Online Activists Keep the Pressure on Obama

If Obama is lucky, he will continue to benefit from these energized, sophisticated activists who support his candidacy while they press his hand.
Ari Melber
The Jindal Mystique

Young and ambitious, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal lands on the GOP VP shortlist.
Deepa Fernandes
Obama’s Evolving Foreign Policy

He’s no George W. Bush, but will Obama’s foreign policy bring us back to the days of the bipartisan, establishment consensus?
Bob Dreyfuss
Democrats Stage a Revival in Texas

It’s their most surprising red-state revival–and Barack Obama’s happy dilemma.
Bob Moser
Voting Rights: Online Resources

An online guide to organizations working to build a more perfect union.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
America Needs Electoral Reform

Progressives need to drive a bold new agenda to invigorate democracy and capture greater power for the people
Katrina vanden Heuvel

Editorial

Exiting Iraq Is Easier Than They Say

Getting out of Iraq responsibly isn’t the impossible feat war supporters would have you think.
Chris Toensing
Join the Fight to End Junk Mail

It takes a lot of work, but it’s possible to go green. Start with stopping your junk mail.
Annabelle Gurwitch
The New Yorker cartoon controversy

The Nation has a long history of publishing images even some of our staunchest fans find offensive. Just ask our cartoonists.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Term Limits: Our National Obsession With Late-Term Abortion

The debate over late-term abortion has lasted long enough. It’s a phony issue designed to undermine our trust in women.
Jessica Arons
Hold China Accountable on Darfur

Don’t let Olympic fever obscure the role China plays in the Sudanese government’s reign of terror, rape and killing.
Ruth Messinger and Jerry Fowler
Pentagon Fights Peace Majorities in US and Iraq

The electorates in both countries are threatening to topple the principal warmakers at the ballot box.
Tom Hayden
The Iraqi Oil Ministry’s New Fave Five

Mainstream media should consider these leads as they change gears from no-comment to hot-pursuit when it comes to the story of Iraq’s most sought after commodity.
Nick Turse
Jesse Helms, American Bigot

In death it’s easy to dismiss Jesse Helms as a colorful buffoon or a relic of the bad old days of segregation and sexism, but that doesn’t do his bigotry justice.
Lisa Duggan
Barack at Risk

Barack Obama could put his entire candidacy at risk if his audacity on the war in Iraq continues to shrivel.
Tom Hayden
Bush’s Last Chance on Climate

At the G-8 Summit, he can help bear the brunt of climate damage caused by the developing world. But don’t hold your breath.
Janet Redman
Catholic Worker at 75

The movement she inspired–passionate, pacifist and siding with the scorned–is seventy-five and going strong.
Colman McCarthy
Impeach Bush Now

If we don’t act now, future generations will see that a weapon intended to defend the rule of law grew rusty and unusable on our watch.
Elizabeth Holtzman
Noted.

Civil liberties, at home and abroad; saving Jeff Wood from Texas’s death row.
The Editors
Supreme Politics

The Supreme Court’s final rulings remind us that civil rights and a sane vision of the Constitution rest with the next President’s judicial appointments.
The Editors
Fizzling on FISA

Obama and other Senate Democrats should not let a lame-duck Administration compromise our liberties in the name of pursuing terrorists.
The Editors
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Column

Tough Love for Bankers

Our current financial disaster is the real legacy of the Reagan Revolution. So why don’t we let the deregulated banking industry sink or swim?
Robert Scheer
IndyMac Crash: Portrait of a Panic

America is shaken by images of panicked customers lined up to withdraw money from the failed IndyMac Bank.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Can NASCAR Be Saved From Itself?

For the last decade, NASCAR has tried to shed its legacy as a sport indelibly linked to the confederate flag.
Dave Zirin
Taiwan Declares Peace on China

You can’t trust the Chinese. I don’t care if you’re talking about those communists on the mainland or the other guys on Taiwan; they just won’t follow the wargames script that our weapons hawks had counted on.
Robert Scheer
Grand Theft Hoops: The Stealing of the Sonics

Two Oklahoma corporate raiders have stolen one of Seattle’s most beloved sports franchises with an unlikely accomplice, the NBA’s commissioner, David Stern.
Dave Zirin
Talking Points for an Energy Crisis

Now that rising gas prices and plummeting sales of gas hog vehicles has gotten everyone’s attention, let’s talk about a long-term plan.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Disaster Capitalists Reap Profits

As the planet is rocked by multiple shocks, here’s a look at how disaster capitalists are reaping the benefits–leveraging the Iraq War, the push for arctic drilling and the global food crisis.
Naomi Klein
Who’s Afraid of Judy Maccabee?

Women increasingly are taking leadership roles in Jewish life–and that’s a problem?
Katha Pollitt
The Persecution of Sami Al-Arian

The US government’s shameful auto-da-fé of Sami Al-Arian enters a new phase.
Alexander Cockburn
Top McCain Aide Says That Another Terrorist Attack on the US Would Be to McCain’s Advantage in the Election

What a way to energize your base.
Calvin Trillin
Flyboy McPlane!

Thrills and spills in a dogfight over Washington!
Robert Grossman

Books & the Arts

Uncomplicated

Slavoj Žižek’s newest book may cause readers to conclude that the superstar philosopher has misplaced his marbles.
Daniel Miller
Speak Again, Memory

Readers of Fidel Castro’s My Life will find explanations of the Cuban Revolution, but no apologies for its suppression of dissent.
Greg Grandin
The Naming

We give our names to things.
This creek is Cobweb Creek,
named for our cat, who is named
for one of the fairies
in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
W. Dale Nelson
The James Gang

In Henry James and his family, biographers find a fascinating story of dynastic melodrama.
Brenda Wineapple
Bill McKibben: The Making of an Environmentalist

Two new anthologies explore the virtues and occasional shortcomings of Bill McKibben’s quest for environmental salvation.
Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
Chilling New Translation of Sophocles’ ‘Ajax’

A new translation of Sophocles’ Ajax derives chilling power from its infidelity to the original text.
Emily Wilson
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

Letters

Empire’s Tower of Babel

Bloomfield Township, Mich.
Our Readers and R.O. Blechman

Crossword

Puzzle No. 3131

ACROSS

1 Give something temporarily, in the spot where you hit the hay–some like their liquor this way. (7)
Frank W. Lewis
Crossword Classic #8

From the December 6, 1947, issue.
Frank W. Lewis
Crossword Classic #7

From the November 29, 1947, issue.
Frank W. Lewis

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July 21, 2008 Issue

Feature

Obama’s plan to de-escalate the war in Iraq only to ramp up another in Afghanistan just might work. It could also entrap the US in an even wider quagmire.

This Week: Congresswoman Kang is ill at ease as she contemplates the fate of her chief of staff and prepares to go to the source of part of her woes: secretive, manipulative billionaire Mace Gilmore.

In Bush’s wars, the singer dies, the bride does not get a chance to run away, and the event might be relabeled my big, fat, collateral damage wedding.

More than 200 bloggers, human rights activists, writers, journalists, hackers and IT experts have joined the fight against censorship on the web.

American military defectors are waging a campaign to achieve political asylum in Canada. As the threat of deportation grows, the fate of hundreds of former soldiers and their families hangs in the balance.

This Week: Chet Kimbrough, Congresswoman’s Kang’s chief of staff, is bound and gagged, and it isn’t because he belongs to an S&M club. There is no safe word for him.

If Obama is lucky, he will continue to benefit from these energized, sophisticated activists who support his candidacy while they press his hand.

Young and ambitious, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal lands on the GOP VP shortlist.

He’s no George W. Bush, but will Obama’s foreign policy bring us back to the days of the bipartisan, establishment consensus?

It’s their most surprising red-state revival–and Barack Obama’s happy dilemma.

An online guide to organizations working to build a more perfect union.

Progressives need to drive a bold new agenda to invigorate democracy and capture greater power for the people

Editorial

Getting out of Iraq responsibly isn’t the impossible feat war supporters would have you think.

It takes a lot of work, but it’s possible to go green. Start with stopping your junk mail.

The Nation has a long history of publishing images even some of our staunchest fans find offensive. Just ask our cartoonists.

The debate over late-term abortion has lasted long enough. It’s a phony issue designed to undermine our trust in women.

Don’t let Olympic fever obscure the role China plays in the Sudanese government’s reign of terror, rape and killing.

The electorates in both countries are threatening to topple the principal warmakers at the ballot box.

Mainstream media should consider these leads as they change gears from no-comment to hot-pursuit when it comes to the story of Iraq’s most sought after commodity.

In death it’s easy to dismiss Jesse Helms as a colorful buffoon or a relic of the bad old days of segregation and sexism, but that doesn’t do his bigotry justice.

Barack Obama could put his entire candidacy at risk if his audacity on the war in Iraq continues to shrivel.

At the G-8 Summit, he can help bear the brunt of climate damage caused by the developing world. But don’t hold your breath.

The movement she inspired–passionate, pacifist and siding with the scorned–is seventy-five and going strong.

If we don’t act now, future generations will see that a weapon intended to defend the rule of law grew rusty and unusable on our watch.

Civil liberties, at home and abroad; saving Jeff Wood from Texas’s death row.

The Supreme Court’s final rulings remind us that civil rights and a sane vision of the Constitution rest with the next President’s judicial appointments.

Obama and other Senate Democrats should not let a lame-duck Administration compromise our liberties in the name of pursuing terrorists.

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

Column

Our current financial disaster is the real legacy of the Reagan Revolution. So why don’t we let the deregulated banking industry sink or swim?

America is shaken by images of panicked customers lined up to withdraw money from the failed IndyMac Bank.

For the last decade, NASCAR has tried to shed its legacy as a sport indelibly linked to the confederate flag.

You can’t trust the Chinese. I don’t care if you’re talking about those communists on the mainland or the other guys on Taiwan; they just won’t follow the wargames script that our weapons hawks had counted on.

Two Oklahoma corporate raiders have stolen one of Seattle’s most beloved sports franchises with an unlikely accomplice, the NBA’s commissioner, David Stern.

Now that rising gas prices and plummeting sales of gas hog vehicles has gotten everyone’s attention, let’s talk about a long-term plan.

As the planet is rocked by multiple shocks, here’s a look at how disaster capitalists are reaping the benefits–leveraging the Iraq War, the push for arctic drilling and the global food crisis.

Women increasingly are taking leadership roles in Jewish life–and that’s a problem?

The US government’s shameful auto-da-fé of Sami Al-Arian enters a new phase.

What a way to energize your base.

Thrills and spills in a dogfight over Washington!

Books & the Arts

Slavoj Žižek’s newest book may cause readers to conclude that the superstar philosopher has misplaced his marbles.

Readers of Fidel Castro’s My Life will find explanations of the Cuban Revolution, but no apologies for its suppression of dissent.

We give our names to things. This creek is Cobweb Creek, named for our cat, who is named for one of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In Henry James and his family, biographers find a fascinating story of dynastic melodrama.

Two new anthologies explore the virtues and occasional shortcomings of Bill McKibben’s quest for environmental salvation.

A new translation of Sophocles’ Ajax derives chilling power from its infidelity to the original text.

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

Letters

Empire’s Tower of Babel

Crossword

We give our names to things.
This creek is Cobweb Creek,
named for our cat, who is named
for one of the fairies
in A Midsummer Night’s Dream