2008 was kind of a rough year for American publishers, culminating in the bloodbaths of November and December which saw hundreds of firings, major restructuring at Random House, and a crisis at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt which may yet prove fatal. Industry professionals are understandably looking for a silver bullet...

What if we took Scott McClellan's new book, What Happened, for what it is: a confession of treason?

What if, instead of salivating all over the rear end of this lowest of toadies, we understood his memoir -- otherwise a grave crime against many trees -- as a plea? As...

It's official! Or almost official. Sort of. Just some t's to cross, etc. Whatever: Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee. Congratulations, Senator. You won. Have a sip of champagne, sneak a smoke when your wife's not looking. Then take a deep breath and get ready for the shitstorm.

Look,...

If Marshall McLuhan was right when he wrote, "The medium is the message," then the message is clearly the following: We are the stupidest species ever to walk the earth.

What other conclusion can be drawn after two weeks which saw the ABC Presidential Debacle, in which Charles Gibson and...

What is going to become of the Democratic Party, so addicted to the cycle of grievance and apology that it can hardly catch its breath long enough to articulate a governing philosophy? What can we possibly expect of a party, and of presidential candidates, so terrified of giving offense...

The author and political genius ZZ Packer, soon to be a HuffPo contributor, offers the following:

Ferraro's Barack Problem

So, forty-three white male presidents to date, and Geraldine Ferraro says Obama's gotten where he is because he's black?

If you've been following the latest statement by Geraldine Ferraro in which...

Although there are fifteen state primaries to go, the air is thick with what feels a lot like an Obama victory. The string of consecutive contests he's won and the sometimes shocking margins (64-35% in Virginia? 68-31% in Washington??) by which he's defeated Hillary Clinton smell a lot like a...

Each day it becomes clearer what a great national shame is the presidency of George W. Bush. Whether it's the illegal, incompetent, dishonest prosecution of the war in Iraq - where a member of the "freely elected government" we're so darned proud of just led a protest of thousands against...

Dear Senator Kerry,

You've won this one. I know it feels otherwise... I know it feels like even some Democrats turned on you (and really, Ford and Tester had no choice, considering their constituencies), but you accomplished what you intended to accomplish: To stand up, Clinton-like, and use the force...

Over the coming week, all Americans should take time to honor the rich history of predatory behavior by the Republican Party. The Mark Foley scandal is, of course, the most recent manifestation of this deeply rooted strain in the Republican character, but it would be unfair to allow this affair...

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like an election year - which means the Republicans are busy smearing and bullying and sharpening their knives, and the Democrats are busy whimpering and retreating and straightening their hair. With just over three months until the mid-terms - and the last chance...

With just over five months to go before Election Day 2006, and the Democrats' much-heralded opportunity to wrestle control of part of the government out of the hands of criminals and imbeciles, the Democratic Party has activated the most-used play in its playbook: Total Capitulation.

This morning General Michael Hayden...

"When you talk about [confirming] judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe vs. Wade, I think that is unlikely... I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning." - Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa)

Some Thoughts for Howard Dean, Harry Reid, Bob Schrum, Donna Brazile, John Podesta, Nancy Pelosi, and the Rest of the Shit-for-Brains So-Called Leaders of the Democratic Party, at the Start of 2006, a Year Which Will Either Restore the Party to Political Relevance or Witness Its Ultimate Humiliation and Extinction