Subterranean Blues: On ExxonMobil Subterranean Blues: On ExxonMobil
Moral indignation is no longer enough to combat the power of Big Oil.
Jul 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Kim Phillips-Fein
Shelf Life Shelf Life
Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street; Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground; John Cassavetes’s Too Late Blues
Jul 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Akiva Gottlieb
Lobbyists Bribed Congress With a Free Screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Lobbyists Bribed Congress With a Free Screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’
Are lobbyists using the new Batman movie as a form of bribery? Senator Leahy’s second cameo, and a special preview screening for staff, is a problem.
Jul 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Lee Fang
Alexander Cockburn and the Radical Power of the Word Alexander Cockburn and the Radical Power of the Word
Alex, who has died at the age of 71, believed to the end in the necessity of information and insight as essential elements of an activism that would begin the world over again.
Jul 21, 2012 / Books & the Arts / John Nichols
George McGovern at 90: Still a Patriot With a Bleeding Heart George McGovern at 90: Still a Patriot With a Bleeding Heart
McGovern has always practiced a politics that runs deeper; a politics rooted in his love of America’s history, its literature and its possibility.
Jul 19, 2012 / Books & the Arts / John Nichols
Rockers Renew Radicalism of Woody’s ‘This Land is Your Land’ Rockers Renew Radicalism of Woody’s ‘This Land is Your Land’
Tom Morello marks Guthrie’s 100th by restoring the left-wing verses of his most famous song.
Jul 13, 2012 / Books & the Arts / John Nichols
10 Comedians Who Aren’t Defending Rape Jokes 10 Comedians Who Aren’t Defending Rape Jokes
Funnily enough, not all comedians are defending Daniel Tosh’s rape jokes.
Jul 13, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Katie Halper
Breaking Bad’s Failed American Dream Breaking Bad’s Failed American Dream
The “most dangerous show on television” highlights our shredded social contract.
Jul 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Max Rivlin-Nadler
Woody at 100 Woody at 100
Woody Guthrie's influence was as profoundly felt as any musician in US, and perhaps world, history.
Jul 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Peter Rothberg
We Hate It ‘Cause It’s His: A Republican Sea Chantey We Hate It ‘Cause It’s His: A Republican Sea Chantey
“[The individual mandate had] been at the heart of Republican health-care reforms for two decades. The mandate made its political début in a 1989 Heritage Foundation brief titled ‘Assuring Affordable Health Care for All Americans,’ as a counterpoint to the single-payer system and the employer mandate, which were favored in Democratic circles…. The mandate made its first legislative appearance in 1993, in the Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act—the Republicans’ alternative to President Clinton’s health- reform bill.” —Ezra Klein, The New Yorker Oh, why do we so loathe this thing? We used to love it so. We used to say, “For health reform This is the way to go.” We said it was free enterprise (And we explained just how). If this was our idea back then, How could we hate it now? We hate it ’cause it’s his, lads. We hate it ’cause it’s his. We hate it ’cause it’s his, lads. That’s what our hatred is. You needn’t be a whiz, lads, to ace this simple quiz. We hate it ’cause it’s his, lads. We hate it ’cause it’s his. If Mitt’s plan was the model here, What caused this great upheaval? If Mitt’s makes sense, then why is this Just socialistic evil? If this approach once seemed so good That all of us were for it, How come it is so wicked now That all of us abhor it? We hate it ’cause it’s his, lads. We hate it ’cause it’s his. We hate it ’cause it’s his, lads. That’s what our hatred is. You needn’t be a whiz, lads, to ace this simple quiz. We hate it ’cause it’s his, lads. We hate it ’cause it’s his.
Jul 11, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin