NYT Op-Eds (3)

"Mitt Romney’s miscues about his wealth and other misfires follow him to Detroit" (Blow); "Rick Santorum’s views on the separation of church and state were discredited more than 350 years ago" (Nocera); "We have new developments in the Republican presidential primaries, people! Including a shaggy cat story" (Collins)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, February 25, 2012

NYT Op-Eds & Letters (4)

"Will the Supreme Court reconsider Citizens United through a Montana case on corporate political contributions?" (Greenhouse); "Publicly ranking teachers by name will not help them get better at their jobs or improve student learning" (Gates); "At the 20th debate of the Republican presidential candidates, all the attention was on the two guys at the center of the table: Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum" (Collins); "How We Finance Political Campaigns" (Letters)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, February 23, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"Palestinians who seek an independent state and an end to the Israeli occupation should avoid violence and embrace peaceful resistance" (Guest Op-Ed); "Democracy’s greatest threat in Egypt may just be the transitional government and the old Mubarak cronies" (Friedman); "Longing for the Victorian age, Rick Santorum might lose the Victoria’s Secret vote" (Dowd)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, February 22, 2012

‘Perpetual Growth Myth’ Leading World to Meltdown: Experts | Common Dreams

Posted by Michael Butler, Tuesday, February 21, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"Rick Santorum is becoming increasingly unhinged in his public comments. Just look at some of the things he has said recently" (Blow); "In the agreement made with the five biggest mortgage servicers, providing relief for homeowners is more important than punishing banks" (Nocera); "That ever-recurring campaign issue of residency is back this go-round. It’s a particularly sensitive topic in Indiana right now" (Collins)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, February 18, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"President Obama can’t have it both ways: if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are ending, the detention of enemy prisoners without charges must end, too" (Guest Op-Ed); "While our legislators on Capitol Hill are currently very unpopular, there’s good news, people! They seem to be hearing our complaints about partisan gridlock" (Collins); "Teachers’ unions have often been an obstacle to efforts at school reforms. But, in New Haven, they are showing that they can be part of the solution" (Kristof)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, February 16, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"Masculinity is wide enough and deep enough for all men. We should remember that when society, and male culture in particular, tries to render it narrow and shallow" (Blow); "I’m sure you heard about President Obama’s new rule on health care coverage of contraceptives. Was it a cave, a tweak or a compromise?" (Collins); "Building the oil pipeline is not going to lead to apocalypse" (Nocera)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, February 11, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"We need a national conversation about the dimensions of poverty or a chunk of working-class America could be calcified into an underclass" (Kristof); "The issue of covering contraceptives in health care plans has Catholic bishops in an uproar. Let’s try to talk through this in a calm, measured manner" (Collins); "Haiti’s culture of impunity must end with the prosecution of Jean-Claude Duvalier" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, February 9, 2012

Colbert v. The Supreme Court

Posted by Michael Butler, Sunday, February 5, 2012

NYT Editorial & Op-Eds (10)

"Three major legal cases may influence the 2012 election, but the cases also illustrate how politics shape the Supreme Court" (Editorial); "Whether Barack Obama wins or loses in November, the Democratic Party’s attention will immediately turn to 2016" (Guest Op-Ed); "Whether you can obtain a job, credit or insurance can be based on your digital doppelgänger — and you may never know why you’ve been turned down" (Guest Op-Ed); "Anyone entertaining such dreams of the Internet as a refuge for the bohemian, the hedonistic and the idiosyncratic probably didn’t know the reasons behind the disappearance of the original flâneur" (Guest Op-Ed); "How do the laws and mores of different nations manage, if at all, the multinational companies that now govern our digital lives?" (Guest Op-Ed); "Romney’s Mormon faith is too central to his biography and identity to be swept to the side" (Bruni); "Web tools can turn the world upside down. Change.org has empowered ordinary people to close down homophobic 'clinics' in Ecuador, shine a light on sex trafficking, and force banks to drop fees" (Kristof); "Vladimir Putin has been unable to make the political, economic and educational changes needed to make Russia a modern European state. Will he step up?" (Friedman); "Can Callista transform Newt so that he can transform her into the First Third Lady?" (Dowd); "Half of the country wants to restrict or end abortion, but you wouldn’t know that from the coverage of the Planned Parenthood-Komen controversy" (Douthat)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, February 5, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (2)

"Mitt Romney said that he was concerned about 'middle-income Americans.' He certainly has a funny way of showing it" (Blow); "With that big political dust-up about breast cancer this week, we’ve clearly hit the point where there’s nothing that can’t be divided into red state/blue state" (Collins)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, February 4, 2012

NYT Editorial & Op-Eds (5)

"The Supreme Court of the United States should broadcast its hearings live. Adding video would enhance public understanding of the court" (Editorial); "Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a bill making Indiana another 'right to work' state" (Rosenthal); "This primary season, pro-choice Republican women don’t have good options" (Guest Op-Ed); "The Republican Party used to be known for its moderate pragmatists. Then the party forced moderates like Mitt Romney to feign extremism just to compete" (Kristof); "Did you hear? Mitt Romney said he doesn’t care about poor people. Really, he did. Let’s break this down" (Collins)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, February 2, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"Current candidates would do well to look back at the birth — and failure — of mortgage-backed securities" (Guest Op-Ed); "Can backbone propel you to the front? Team Mitt and Team Barry compete on spine spin" (Dowd); "From Cairo to Moscow, humiliation has been the most underestimated force in politics" (Friedman)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, February 1, 2012

NYT Editorial & Op-Eds (10)

"The system for reviewing presidential appointments is broken. Changing the rule is a risky course, but it is the only way to get the nation’s work done" (Editorial); "A student movement led by Camila Vallejo and centered on reforming Chile’s educational system is upending the society" (Guest Op-Ed); "Millions of children take drugs to help them pay attention — but do they really help?" (Guest Op-Ed); "Focusing on public expectations of privacy means that our rights change when technology does" (Guest Op-Ed); "While Cynthia Nixon’s critics have good reason to worry about how her words will be construed, they have no right to demand silence and conformity from her" (Bruni); "Would it be ethical to produce, or take, a drug that makes us more likely to help others?" (Guest Op-Ed); "What is it about runways that brings out the fire in our cool president?" (Dowd); "There is a big gap in how C.E.O.’s and political leaders look at the world" (Friedman); "The power of the state can crowd out other forms of community" (Douthat); "Religious people are more likely to donate to charity" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 29, 2012

NYT Editorials & Op-Eds (5)

"The United States is slowly recovering, but still struggling, and it is still in need of government action and strong political leadership" (Editorial); "There is absolutely no excuse for the New York Police Department’s decision to show a film about Muslims to more than 1,400 city police officers" (Editorial); "In the 21st-century economy, everyone is going to have to find a little something extra to stand out in their field of employment" (Friedman); "Mitt Romney, leaving us at wit’s end with his witless pranks" (Dowd); "Maikel Nabil Sanad’s experience illustrates the challenge facing Egyptian society if it hopes that democracy and pluralism will replace the Mubarak government" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, January 25, 2012

NYT Editorial, Op-Eds, Letters (11)

"Americans spend more than patients in any other country, but with very mixed results" (Editorial); "Drones are blurring the civilian and military roles in war and circumventing the constitutional mandate for authorizing it" (Guest Op-Ed); "If only a presidential candidate would adopt this four-part agenda, he would surely be the winner on election night in November" (Friedman); "'Porgy and Bess' supplies a prism through which African-Americans have viewed their history" (Nocera); "No longer will only men be allowed to sell a bra to a woman clothed head-to-toe in an abaya" (Guest Op-Ed); "Could 2012 be a race between two powerful victims yearning to be lonely at the top?" (Dowd); "In both parties, there is a long tradition of underwhelming nominees" (Douthat); "If liberals care about middle-class salaries, public education and other state-funded services, they need to care about controlling health care costs as much as conservatives do" (Guest Op-Ed); "Lessons from Paula Deen on indulgence and its consequences" (Bruni); "It's 2012, and let's face it, the old way of sizing up candidates on the left-to-right spectrum just will not do" (Guest Op-Ed); "Sunday Dialogue: State Laws on Unions" (Letters)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 22, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (2)

"Gingrich's plan seems to be to appeal to an ugly, gut-level anger and animosity among a sizable portion of the Republican electorate" (Blow); "Thanks to Newt Gingrich, sex was very much on the minds of South Carolina voters this week" (Collins)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, January 21, 2012

NYT Editorials & Op-Eds (6)

"Mitt Romney’s tax returns will remind Americans of the fundamental unfairness of the tax code and show just how much it favors the rich" (Editorial); "We are happy that the drive to pass antipiracy legislation has slowed enough that Congress might actually consider all its implications carefully" (Editorial); "More important to the nation’s energy future than the Keystone XL oil pipeline is the development of renewable and alternative energy sources" (Editorial); "The keepers of the flame of free speech are banishing people for their speech" (Guest Op-Ed); "Will capitalists be the death of capitalism?" (Kristof); "With the South Carolina primary only days away, it’s time to take stock of how all the candidates are doing" (Collins)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, January 19, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"The phrase 'under God' was not conceived to promote unity, but capitalism and conservatism" (Guest Op-Ed); "To the manner, and manor, born in an American version of Downton Abbey, Mitt and Poppy have a lot in common, warts and all" (Dowd); "Some recent news out of Egypt shows just how tough diplomacy is going to be going forward" (Friedman)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Smirking Chimp (3)

Are we lucky enough to be witnessing the self-destruction of the Reupblican Party?; The GOP's "marvelous unreality show"; When winter fades, will we see an "Occupy Spring?"
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Stuff you didn’t know you didn’t know!

Courtesy of Mike Dailey
Posted by Michael Butler, Sunday, January 15, 2012

NYT (11): Editorials, Op-Eds, Letters

"Mitt Romney and the Republican Party fear talking about income inequality in the campaign" (Editorial); "In a sound ruling, the National Labor Relations Board concluded that employees’ federal right to engage in concerted action trumps any arbitration agreement that bars group claims" (Editorial); "The Tea Party’s influence is diminishing as conservatives seem to be inching toward nominating Mitt Romney" (Guest Op-Ed); "Presidential candidates are just like you. You plus multiple homes and millions" (Bruni); "There has yet to be any discussion over the one quality that has subtly driven Mitt Romney's candidacy: his race" (Guest Op-Ed); "The private equity revolution of Mitt Romney and others helped keep America competitive, but the human costs must be acknowledged, too" (Douthat); "In fashion next fall: enigmatic, elusive, analytical Harvard grads" (Dowd); "For those in the news media who covered the slow-motion collapse of the Soviet Union, this moment feels familiar" (Guest Op-Ed); "As a new government takes shape, Egyptians are finding their voices again and rediscovering their neighbors" (Friedman); "Medieval Europe had barbarian hordes, famine and plague. We have millions of people on Xanax" (Guest Op-Ed); "Sunday Dialogue: Mobility and Inequality in Today’s America" (Letters)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, January 15, 2012

FDL: Colbert SuperPAC Goes on the Air in South Carolina

David Dayen @ Firedoglake (w video of Colbert and Stewart making the announcement) ..

This caps off one of the most brilliant pieces of performance art in quite some time. Colbert is “running” for President now as an evolution of his show-don’t-tell critique of the Citizens United decision and what it has meant for campaign finance in America. His SuperPAC has run ads in Iowa, used candidate Buddy Roemer in spots that technically didn’t “coordinate” with the candidate because they were considered issue ads, and tried to purchase naming rights to the South Carolina primary, adding a referendum to the ballot asking voters whether corporations are people or “only people are people.” .. As satire, this goes light years beyond the March to Restore Sanity. Colbert is displaying every single problem with the Citizens United decision, and the mess of our campaign finance laws, by showing the practical application of them in the real world

.. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Sunday, January 15, 2012

Colbert Super PAC: Mitt the Ripper –or– Attack in B Minor for Strings

Posted by Mike Blaxill, Sunday, January 15, 2012

NYT Op-Eds (3)

"The presidential candidates need to get a grip on our nation’s income inequality" (Blow); "The current presidential race has demonstrated that $1 million is practically nothing these days. Nothing!" (Collins); "Theodore Roosevelt, when he was police commissioner, tried to crack down on New Yorkers’ alcohol consumption. It didn’t go well" (Guest Op-Ed)
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, January 14, 2012