The Battle for Congress

Even if Obama wins, he won’t be able to accomplish much if progressives don’t do well in legislative races. Here are ten worthy contenders.

John Nichols

Has Florida Created a Trap at the Polls for Ex-Felons?

Many of Florida’s ex-felons are receiving conflicting information on their voting rights. That could spell disaster in November.

Brentin Mock

The Blue-State Strategy for Progressive Renewal

Democrats have a rich opportunity to push electoral reform at the state level.

Steven Hill

A Way Out of Syria’s Catastrophe

Washington must work with Russia, embracing the letter and spirit of the Geneva principles agreed upon in June.

Jonathan Steele

The Fight to Vote

The right’s war on democracy underscores the need for a constitutionally protected right to vote.

the Editors

The Kochs’ Ground Game

Under the radar, the pseudo-grassroots group Americans for Prosperity is pulling out the stops to defeat Obama.

Lee Fang

Noted

Highlights from the Voting Rights Watch 2012 blog, from Brentin Mock, Aura Bogado and Maegan E. Ortiz

Various Contributors

A Human Rights Court Gives Torture the Green Light

In refusing to block the extradition of terror suspects to the US, the European Court for Human Rights has condoned a brutal regimen of long-term solitary confinement.

Jeanne Theoharis and Saskia Sassen

Bad Lessons From ‘Won’t Back Down’

A crude and hackneyed film, Won't Back Down peddles an improbable and deceptive message about schools and poverty.

Dana Goldstein

I’ve Got the Mitt Thinks I’m a Moocher, a Taker Not a Maker, Blues

Calvin Trillin

Blasphemy Is Good for You

What if the right to be a jerk is where freedom begins?

Katha Pollitt

A Tale of Two Zionisms: On Peter Beinart

Why Israel’s purposes cannot be grasped only through the American Jewish experience.

Bernard Avishai

The Open

Andrés Sánchez Robyana

Shelf Life

Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen and Sonu Shamdasani’s The Freud Files; E. James Lieberman and Robert Kramer, editors, The Letters of Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank

Elias Altman

Empire and Revolution: On Joshua Freeman

In a new history of postwar America, Joshua Freeman argues that policy changes occur because of pressure from the bottom up.

Thomas J. Sugrue

Bad Lessons From ‘Won’t Back Down’

A crude and hackneyed film, Won't Back Down peddles an improbable and deceptive message about schools and poverty.

Dana Goldstein

Letters

Our Readers

Puzzle No. 3254

Don’t miss Kosman and Picciotto’s crossword blog, Word Salad.

Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto