November 20, 2006 Issue

Cover art by: Cover by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels with apologies to Norman Rockwell

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Feature

Democracy Worked for SD Abortion Vote

The electoral process worked for pro-choice advocates in South Dakota, overturning an abortion ban with a grassroots appeal to keep the government out of citizens’ personal lives.
Liza Featherstone
Lost in Connecticut

Joe Lieberman won an idiosyncratic victory. He holds his seat despite his relentless support for Iraq, rather than because of it.
Bruce Shapiro
Bush Crony to Head UN’s Food Program

John Bolton’s surprise announcement that a former Washington Times editor will head the UN’s World Food Program bodes ill for the idea that competence is more important than political loyalty.
Ian Williams
The Return of Daniel Ortega

Despite Daniel Ortega’s many flaws, the return of the Sandinistas to power creates the possibility that his challenge to the “savage capitalism” of the previous regime can genuinely benefit Nicaragua’s poor.
Mark Engler
The T-Shirt Wars

Demonstrators wearing a controversial T-shirt tested the limits of free expression on the Staten Island Ferry.
Ali Winston
Que Pasa en Oaxaca?

A virtual state of siege prevails in Oaxaca, where military police have occupied the central square, clearing barricades and detaining scores of activists.
Michael McCaughan
Memo to Kerry: Criticize, Don’t Apologize

John Kerry should stop being nice about the Deserter in Chief. He should be reminding voters that the President who has sent more than 3,000 US soldiers and allies and untold thousands of Iraqis to their deaths deserted his post during the Vietnam War.
Ian Williams
The Gutting of the Civil Service

The Bush Administration has so politicized government agencies that an entire culture of civil service professionals is being replaced by conservative political operatives loyal only to the White House.
Dan Zegart
What’s Left of Reform

As Iran and the United States trade insults and America presses for Iranians to rise up, educators, students and women’s rights groups may pay the greatest cost.
Negar Azimi
The Case for Engagement

If US officials stopped their saber-rattling over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and began to negotiate directly, they would have an eye-opening experience.
Scott Ritter

Editorial

Questionable Verdict

Even the most naive American voter cannot be expected to see the morally, legally and politically questionable death sentence given to Saddam Hussein a milestone in the Bush Administration’s illegal war in Iraq. As the milestones pile up, so do the bodies.
Richard Falk
The Baker Report, Leaked!

Stay the course? Cut and run? Cut the crap? What will former Secretary of State James A. Baker III propose after the midterm elections, when the bipartisan Iraq Study Group reveals new scenarios to end the Iraq debacle?
Evan Eisenberg
The Tao of Borat

What are we laughing at when we laugh at Borat?
Richard Goldstein
War Criminals, Beware

Human rights advocates are pressing German courts to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and other Bush Administration officials for war crimes. They just might succeed.
Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
The ‘Off-Year Primary’

As presidential hopefuls from both parties press their advantage on the platform of the 2006 midterm election, the winners are…
John Nichols
Bring Democracy Home

To repair our broken voting system, declare Election Day a holiday, establish national election standards and require reliable voting machines and a paper trail.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
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Column

Bush’s Rough Justice

Bush insisted that Saddam Hussein’s trial be held in Iraq so that an international tribunal would never expose America’s history of support for the tyrant.
Robert Scheer
NBA: The Political Season

Take time out to acknowledge the return of the NBA–and the beginning of a political season of sorts for NBA players with a social conscience.
Dave Zirin
HRC: Can’t Get No Respect

If people keep making sexist attacks against Hillary Clinton, I may just have to vote for her. That means you, Elizabeth Edwards!
Katha Pollitt
The Message of Campaign 2006

As things stand in organized politics today, a purely formal protest against what the GOP has done to America is the most we can hope for.
Alexander Cockburn
An Explanation of Karl Rove’s Confidence About the Midterm Elections

Hint: It starts with the M-word.
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

The Tracks of My Tears

Penelope Cruz shines in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver; James Longley’s Iraq in Fragments is a repository of small truths.
Stuart Klawans
Down by Law

Todd Snider has a songwriter’s flair for the absurd–and he’s morphed from a barroom wiseacre to a keen observer of life at the workaday fringes of Bush’s America.
K. Leander Williams
In God’s Country

The secular left should think twice before casting religious people as its foes. After all, alienating potential allies and confining ourselves to a small sect of like-minded believers is what fundamentalism is all about.
Eyal Press
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Letters

Letters

A GIRL CAN DREAM, CAN’T SHE?

Boise, Idaho
William Greider , Our Readers and Max Blumenthal

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November 20, 2006 Issue

Feature

The electoral process worked for pro-choice advocates in South Dakota, overturning an abortion ban with a grassroots appeal to keep the government out of citizens’ personal lives.

Joe Lieberman won an idiosyncratic victory. He holds his seat despite his relentless support for Iraq, rather than because of it.

John Bolton’s surprise announcement that a former Washington Times editor will head the UN’s World Food Program bodes ill for the idea that competence is more important than political loyalty.

Despite Daniel Ortega’s many flaws, the return of the Sandinistas to power creates the possibility that his challenge to the “savage capitalism” of the previous regime can genuinely benefit Nicaragua’s poor.

Demonstrators wearing a controversial T-shirt tested the limits of free expression on the Staten Island Ferry.

A virtual state of siege prevails in Oaxaca, where military police have occupied the central square, clearing barricades and detaining scores of activists.

John Kerry should stop being nice about the Deserter in Chief. He should be reminding voters that the President who has sent more than 3,000 US soldiers and allies and untold thousands of Iraqis to their deaths deserted his post during the Vietnam War.

The Bush Administration has so politicized government agencies that an entire culture of civil service professionals is being replaced by conservative political operatives loyal only to the White House.

As Iran and the United States trade insults and America presses for Iranians to rise up, educators, students and women’s rights groups may pay the greatest cost.

If US officials stopped their saber-rattling over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and began to negotiate directly, they would have an eye-opening experience.

Editorial

Even the most naive American voter cannot be expected to see the morally, legally and politically questionable death sentence given to Saddam Hussein a milestone in the Bush Administration’s illegal war in Iraq. As the milestones pile up, so do the bodies.

Stay the course? Cut and run? Cut the crap? What will former Secretary of State James A. Baker III propose after the midterm elections, when the bipartisan Iraq Study Group reveals new scenarios to end the Iraq debacle?

What are we laughing at when we laugh at Borat?

Human rights advocates are pressing German courts to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and other Bush Administration officials for war crimes. They just might succeed.

As presidential hopefuls from both parties press their advantage on the platform of the 2006 midterm election, the winners are…

To repair our broken voting system, declare Election Day a holiday, establish national election standards and require reliable voting machines and a paper trail.

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

Column

Bush insisted that Saddam Hussein’s trial be held in Iraq so that an international tribunal would never expose America’s history of support for the tyrant.

Take time out to acknowledge the return of the NBA–and the beginning of a political season of sorts for NBA players with a social conscience.

If people keep making sexist attacks against Hillary Clinton, I may just have to vote for her. That means you, Elizabeth Edwards!

As things stand in organized politics today, a purely formal protest against what the GOP has done to America is the most we can hope for.

Hint: It starts with the M-word.

Books & the Arts

Penelope Cruz shines in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver; James Longley’s Iraq in Fragments is a repository of small truths.

Todd Snider has a songwriter’s flair for the absurd–and he’s morphed from a barroom wiseacre to a keen observer of life at the workaday fringes of Bush’s America.

The secular left should think twice before casting religious people as its foes. After all, alienating potential allies and confining ourselves to a small sect of like-minded believers is what fundamentalism is all about.

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

Letters

A GIRL CAN DREAM, CAN’T SHE? Boise, Idaho

A GIRL CAN DREAM, CAN’T SHE?

Boise, Idaho