November 9, 2009 Issue

Cover art by: Cover photograph by Getty Images, design by Gene Case & Stephen Kling/Avenging Angels

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Feature

Pentagon Investigating Iraq Electrocution Death

Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Carol Shea-Porter argue that since Adam Hermanson died while working on a Defense Department contract, the DoD is obliged to investigate.
Jeremy Scahill
Joe Lieberman and the Opt-Out Revolution

Progressives rejoiced when Sen. Harry Reid announced that the Senate healthcare bill would include a public option. But the jubilation was short-lived.
Lindsay Beyerstein
Judge Real in Alex Sanchez Case Is Surreal

The evidence against Alex Sanchez is quite refutable, but that assumes a fair trial. And that’s not possible in Judge Real’s courtroom.
Tom Hayden
Welcome to 2025: American Pre-eminence Ends Fifteen Years Early

The American intelligence community has missed the boat on how quickly the US has fallen from “sole superpower” status.
Michael T. Klare
Honduras’s ‘Bloodless Coup’: What You’re Not Seeing on TV

In Honduras, people are dying while the world looks the other way. Real international pressure–especially from the US–is the only force that could stop that now.
Avi Lewis
Putting Caste on Notice

Navi Pillay is the first UN human rights commissioner to take on caste discrimination.
Barbara Crossette
Climate Activists Hit the Streets

Turnout for 350.org’s International Climate Day of Action was high in New York City–and in some of the developing nations most vulnerable to effects of global warming.
Nathaniel Herz
Ehren Watada: Free at Last

After three years of trying to convict Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq, the Army has allowed him to resign.
Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
The Tide Is Turning on Healthcare Reform

In the past month, momentum on healthcare reform has unmistakably shifted as progressives have taken to the streets, the Internet and the halls of Congress to push for a bold plan.
Peter Dreier
As Rumors Fly, a Call for a United Front on Healthcare in the House

There has been a lot of guessing recently about what the final House version of healthcare reform will look like. It’s time for some clarity.
Raul Grijalva
The Big Kids Play With Corked Bats

What if campaign finance reform took a page from baseball’s playbook?
Helen Rosenthal
Judge Refuses to Dismiss War Crimes Case Against Blackwater

A federal judge sends the lawyers for Iraqi victims of Blackwater back to the drawing board, while rejecting Blackwater’s plea to toss out the case.
Jeremy Scahill
How to Get Out

Elements of a responsible withdrawal.
Bob Dreyfuss
The Best Wall of Defense

The most dependable guarantor of Pakistani stability isn’t a troop buildup in Afghanistan; it’s Pakistan’s emerging middle class.
Mosharraf Zaidi
Paranoia Over Pakistan

Is Pakistan really in danger of falling into the hands of the Taliban?
Manan Ahmed
Attack of the Drones

Airstrikes, manned or unmanned, regulated or not, cannot build a better Afghan future.
Priya Satia
The Ethnic Split

The tenacity of the Taliban insurgency is rooted in opposition to a foreign occupation that is particularly distasteful to the Pashtuns.
Selig S. Harrison
The ‘Safe Haven’ Myth

If we leave Afghanistan, Al Qaeda will be in no position to re-establish a base there.
John Mueller
High Cost, Low Odds

Staying in Afghanistan will cost many more American soldiers’ lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. Is it worth it?
Stephen M. Walt
Afghanistan: A Special Issue

The essays in our forum call into question many of the myths and faulty assumptions about the best course of US policy in Afghanistan.
The Nation
Remember the Women?

Women belong at the center of the debate over the Afghan war, not on the margins.
Ann Jones

Editorial

Devil in the Old Dominion

Everyone is looking to Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial contest as a Middle American barometer for 2010.
Bob Moser
Dem Doldrums in Gotham

Whatever his party label, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s firmest loyalties are to Wall Street. Why is his Democratic opponent unwilling to forcefully challenge him on economic issues?
Theodore Hamm
Crafting Health Reform

Healthcare reform is looking less like a fantasy and more like a probability–but we need to keep a close watch on affordability, financing and the public option.
J. Lester Feder
Noted.

A how-to for taking action on Afghanistan.
The Editors
Obama’s Fateful Choice

US Afghanistan policy should not be held hostage to the president’s past rhetoric.
The Editors
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Column

Lieberman Twists the Knife

The Connecticut senator declared Tuesday that he would support a filibuster of any healthcare reform bill that has a public option–even the version with the “trigger” compromise accepted by Sen. Olympia Snowe.
Robert Scheer
Just Don’t Call It ‘Journalism’

By refusing to acknowledge Fox News’s avowed partisanship, its MSM defenders diminish the work of honest journalists who try to play fair.
Eric Alterman
Nobel Peace Sparks War

It’s peculiar, the vocabulary that makes a liability out of the Nobel Prize.
Patricia J. Williams
China Policy

Going along when China’s rotten…
Calvin Trillin

Books & the Arts

At Least, At Most: The Novels of Don Carpenter

With his plain, weather-beaten prose, Don Carpenter was a good enough novelist not to have to prove it.
Charles Taylor
A City Unbottled: Mary Beard’s Pompeii

In The Fires of Vesuvius, Mary Beard unearths the seedier realities of the Roman social and political experience.
Joy Connolly
A Makeshift World: On Thomas Demand

For the photographer Thomas Demand, Germany is like any other country because it is haunted by history.
Barry Schwabsky
The stakes are higher now than ever. Get The Nation in your inbox.

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Letters

Letters

Deadline Poet Hits Bull’s-Eye
Upper Marlboro, Md.
Our Readers and Barry Schwabsky

Crossword

Puzzle No. 3190

ACROSS

1 Setting out, and putting on the scales what keeps things steady. (8,6)
Frank W. Lewis

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November 9, 2009 Issue

Feature

Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Carol Shea-Porter argue that since Adam Hermanson died while working on a Defense Department contract, the DoD is obliged to investigate.

Progressives rejoiced when Sen. Harry Reid announced that the Senate healthcare bill would include a public option. But the jubilation was short-lived.

The evidence against Alex Sanchez is quite refutable, but that assumes a fair trial. And that’s not possible in Judge Real’s courtroom.

The American intelligence community has missed the boat on how quickly the US has fallen from “sole superpower” status.

In Honduras, people are dying while the world looks the other way. Real international pressure–especially from the US–is the only force that could stop that now.

Navi Pillay is the first UN human rights commissioner to take on caste discrimination.

Turnout for 350.org’s International Climate Day of Action was high in New York City–and in some of the developing nations most vulnerable to effects of global warming.

After three years of trying to convict Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq, the Army has allowed him to resign.

In the past month, momentum on healthcare reform has unmistakably shifted as progressives have taken to the streets, the Internet and the halls of Congress to push for a bold plan.

There has been a lot of guessing recently about what the final House version of healthcare reform will look like. It’s time for some clarity.

What if campaign finance reform took a page from baseball’s playbook?

A federal judge sends the lawyers for Iraqi victims of Blackwater back to the drawing board, while rejecting Blackwater’s plea to toss out the case.

Elements of a responsible withdrawal.

The most dependable guarantor of Pakistani stability isn’t a troop buildup in Afghanistan; it’s Pakistan’s emerging middle class.

Is Pakistan really in danger of falling into the hands of the Taliban?

Airstrikes, manned or unmanned, regulated or not, cannot build a better Afghan future.

The tenacity of the Taliban insurgency is rooted in opposition to a foreign occupation that is particularly distasteful to the Pashtuns.

If we leave Afghanistan, Al Qaeda will be in no position to re-establish a base there.

Staying in Afghanistan will cost many more American soldiers’ lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. Is it worth it?

The essays in our forum call into question many of the myths and faulty assumptions about the best course of US policy in Afghanistan.

Women belong at the center of the debate over the Afghan war, not on the margins.

Editorial

Everyone is looking to Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial contest as a Middle American barometer for 2010.

Whatever his party label, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s firmest loyalties are to Wall Street. Why is his Democratic opponent unwilling to forcefully challenge him on economic issues?

Healthcare reform is looking less like a fantasy and more like a probability–but we need to keep a close watch on affordability, financing and the public option.

A how-to for taking action on Afghanistan.

US Afghanistan policy should not be held hostage to the president’s past rhetoric.

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

Column

The Connecticut senator declared Tuesday that he would support a filibuster of any healthcare reform bill that has a public option–even the version with the “trigger” compromise accepted by Sen. Olympia Snowe.

By refusing to acknowledge Fox News’s avowed partisanship, its MSM defenders diminish the work of honest journalists who try to play fair.

It’s peculiar, the vocabulary that makes a liability out of the Nobel Prize.

Going along when China’s rotten…

Books & the Arts

With his plain, weather-beaten prose, Don Carpenter was a good enough novelist not to have to prove it.

In The Fires of Vesuvius, Mary Beard unearths the seedier realities of the Roman social and political experience.

For the photographer Thomas Demand, Germany is like any other country because it is haunted by history.

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

Letters

Deadline Poet Hits Bull’s-Eye Upper Marlboro, Md.

Crossword

ACROSS 1 Setting out, and putting on the scales what keeps things steady. (8,6)

Deadline Poet Hits Bull’s-Eye
Upper Marlboro, Md.

ACROSS

1 Setting out, and putting on the scales what keeps things steady. (8,6)