March 13, 2006 Issue

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

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Feature

Selling Human Rights in Russia

Russian human rights activist Gregory Shvedov examines how Vladimir Putin’s tactics toward Chechnya align with George W. Bush’s “global war on terror.”
Michelle Risley
CAFTA’s Corpse Revived

CAFTA, once presumed dead, is alive and functioning, thanks to White House political sorcery. But a backlash is looming in the United States and abroad.
Mark Engler
Olympic Swagger

Swagger was America’s chosen posture at the Winter Olympics. Once again, sport imitated life: boasting got us nowhere at the Turin games or in the world.
William Greider
Where Are the Good Americans?

When the day comes for America to be judged for its war on terror and the human rights crimes that have been done in the name of its citizens, who can say they stood up and said no?
Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
Bush in India: Just Not Welcome

Opposition to President Bush’s visit to India was so intense that the only public space deemed acceptable for him to deliver a speech is a crumbling old fort that also houses the Delhi zoo.
Arundhati Roy
America’s Online Censors

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco Systems are under fire from Congress for helping China censor and prosecute political dissidents. But a proposed law to guide technology companies doing business abroad raises troubling questions for Internet users everywhere.
Rebecca MacKinnon
Bloggers at the Gate

Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, a k a MyDD and Daily Kos, propose to revive the Democratic Party with a technology-driven “bloodless coup.”
Ari Melber
The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Dubai Ports flap is bogus, but it’s fun to see Democrats and Republicans frothing in unison. Hysteria has defined the Bush presidency; now the fearmonger-in-chief is getting a taste of his own tactics.
William Greider
The Fight for Haiti

Now that René Préval has been elected Haiti’s new president, the question is whether he can move the country forward.
Kathie Klarreich
Princeton Tilts Right

Robert George, the conservative movement’s favorite professor, exerts his influence.
Max Blumenthal

Editorial

‘Nation’ Notes

For the next three months, while she finishes a book of essays, Katha Pollitt will not be writing her “Subject to Debate” column. We eagerly anticipate her return in May.
The Editors
He’s Got a Little List

The Nation is pleased that so many of its contributors are included on a right-wing list of the most dangerous academics in America.
Richard Lingeman
The Better Choice in Ohio

Sherrod Brown is the right candidate to be the Democratic Senate nominee in Ohio because he has the support of grassroots voters whose energy is essential to win.
John Nichols
The March of Progress

A comparative list of how our cultural life has changed in the progression from the modern age to the postmodern.
Norman Mailer
Challenging Musharraf

Massive protests over the Muhammad cartoons add to the growing sense that Pakistani President-General Pervez Musharraf is losing control.
Graham Usher
Tortured Exceptionalism

Despite a recent federal district court ruling, the prohibition on torture knows no geographical boundaries and applies to all, no matter what passport they hold–even Americans.
David Cole
Leadership 101

The lesson in Harvard president Lawrence Summers’s sudden demise is that his brand of neoliberalism works better on blackboards than in the real world.
The Editors
Handling Hamas

Rather than undermine Hamas, the Bush Administration should accept the results of the Palestinian election and pursue a policy of cautious engagement.
The Editors
A Fabric of Illegality

The White House practices the dark arts of trashing whistleblowers who exposed prisoner abuse at Guantánamo and the warrantless spying program, adding another layer of illegality to the war on terror.
The Editors
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Column

The Dubai Farce

What a farce: The Dubai Ports deal shows Bush is willing to trust the Arab-owned Dubai Ports to manage our harbors, even as he scapegoats them as culprits in his war on terror.
Robert Scheer
Free Trade Planet

The uproar over the Dubai Ports deal ignores the obvious consequences of the free trade that American politicians of both parties have pushed for decades. Like it or not, we have to deal with it.
Nicholas von Hoffman
Hard Times in the Big Easy

The American economy cannot function without migrant labor. The paradox is the country’s political culture cannot function without scapegoating immigrants.
Gary Younge
Quail in War and Peace

Bobwhite quail have little to cheer about these days, their numbers depleted and habitats ravaged by hunters like the Vice President and his pals.
Alexander Cockburn
Cheney’s Hunting Accident…

It’s going to take more than a polite request to make Cheney speak.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

The Candidate

James Carville peddles democracy in Bolivia in Our Brand Is Crisis, and anti-Nazi passions play out in Sophie Scholl: The Last Days.
Stuart Klawans
Compromising Positions

Richard Schickel’s biography of Elia Kazan is a laudatory postscript to a life marked by social turmoil, political strife and artistic intensity.
David Bromwich
Bad Will Hunting

Two new books on Shakespeare examine his shadowy life, his times and the origins of his imagination. A third explores whether the Bard of Avon was, in fact, Edward de Vere.
Daniel Swift
The March of Progress

A comparative list of how our cultural life has changed in the progression from the modern age to the postmodern.
Norman Mailer
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Letters

Letters

ABORTION: A HUMAN RIGHT

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David Cole and Our Readers

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March 13, 2006 Issue

Feature

Russian human rights activist Gregory Shvedov examines how Vladimir Putin’s tactics toward Chechnya align with George W. Bush’s “global war on terror.”

CAFTA, once presumed dead, is alive and functioning, thanks to White House political sorcery. But a backlash is looming in the United States and abroad.

Swagger was America’s chosen posture at the Winter Olympics. Once again, sport imitated life: boasting got us nowhere at the Turin games or in the world.

When the day comes for America to be judged for its war on terror and the human rights crimes that have been done in the name of its citizens, who can say they stood up and said no?

Opposition to President Bush’s visit to India was so intense that the only public space deemed acceptable for him to deliver a speech is a crumbling old fort that also houses the Delhi zoo.

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco Systems are under fire from Congress for helping China censor and prosecute political dissidents. But a proposed law to guide technology companies doing business abroad raises troubling questions for Internet users everywhere.

Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, a k a MyDD and Daily Kos, propose to revive the Democratic Party with a technology-driven “bloodless coup.”

The Dubai Ports flap is bogus, but it’s fun to see Democrats and Republicans frothing in unison. Hysteria has defined the Bush presidency; now the fearmonger-in-chief is getting a taste of his own tactics.

Now that René Préval has been elected Haiti’s new president, the question is whether he can move the country forward.

Robert George, the conservative movement’s favorite professor, exerts his influence.

Editorial

For the next three months, while she finishes a book of essays, Katha Pollitt will not be writing her “Subject to Debate” column. We eagerly anticipate her return in May.

The Nation is pleased that so many of its contributors are included on a right-wing list of the most dangerous academics in America.

Sherrod Brown is the right candidate to be the Democratic Senate nominee in Ohio because he has the support of grassroots voters whose energy is essential to win.

A comparative list of how our cultural life has changed in the progression from the modern age to the postmodern.

Massive protests over the Muhammad cartoons add to the growing sense that Pakistani President-General Pervez Musharraf is losing control.

Despite a recent federal district court ruling, the prohibition on torture knows no geographical boundaries and applies to all, no matter what passport they hold–even Americans.

The lesson in Harvard president Lawrence Summers’s sudden demise is that his brand of neoliberalism works better on blackboards than in the real world.

Rather than undermine Hamas, the Bush Administration should accept the results of the Palestinian election and pursue a policy of cautious engagement.

The White House practices the dark arts of trashing whistleblowers who exposed prisoner abuse at Guantánamo and the warrantless spying program, adding another layer of illegality to the war on terror.

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

Column

What a farce: The Dubai Ports deal shows Bush is willing to trust the Arab-owned Dubai Ports to manage our harbors, even as he scapegoats them as culprits in his war on terror.

The uproar over the Dubai Ports deal ignores the obvious consequences of the free trade that American politicians of both parties have pushed for decades. Like it or not, we have to deal with it.

The American economy cannot function without migrant labor. The paradox is the country’s political culture cannot function without scapegoating immigrants.

Bobwhite quail have little to cheer about these days, their numbers depleted and habitats ravaged by hunters like the Vice President and his pals.

It’s going to take more than a polite request to make Cheney speak.

Books & the Arts

James Carville peddles democracy in Bolivia in Our Brand Is Crisis, and anti-Nazi passions play out in Sophie Scholl: The Last Days.

Richard Schickel’s biography of Elia Kazan is a laudatory postscript to a life marked by social turmoil, political strife and artistic intensity.

Two new books on Shakespeare examine his shadowy life, his times and the origins of his imagination. A third explores whether the Bard of Avon was, in fact, Edward de Vere.

A comparative list of how our cultural life has changed in the progression from the modern age to the postmodern.

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

Letters

ABORTION: A HUMAN RIGHT New York City

ABORTION: A HUMAN RIGHT

New York City