Reading the Pictures: Maddow -- Curing What Ailes Us

Michael Shaw, 12.17.2009

Publisher of the visual politics blog, BAGnewsNotes

Yule Logs & Ol' Dogs: A Holiday Music Checklist Featuring Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Joan Jett, Neil Diamond, Motown, Sinatra & Martin, and More

Mike Ragogna, 12.25.2009

music biz vet, entertainment writer

For anyone who wants to buy one of this year's new-fangled Christmas recordings, here's a checklist of musical stocking stuffers ranging from traditional to subversive.

"Times/CBS News Poll" Confirms Viscusi's Prediction From Huffington Post

Stephen Viscusi, 12.15.2009

America's Workplace Guru

By Stephen Viscusi Today's just released "NY Times /CBS" poll confirms what I have been preaching in this very column for months! American individ...

Court Stops Congressional Attempt to Defund ACORN

Ari Melber, 12.12.2009

Correspondent for The Nation, Politico contributor, www.arimelber.com

ACORN finally won a round in its battle with the federal government on Friday, as a federal court ruled the U.S. acted unconstitutionally by targeting the organization in an attempt to withhold funding.

If Adam Lambert were a Lesbian...would he already have his own TV show?

Stephen Viscusi, 12.14.2009

America's Workplace Guru

By Stephen Viscusi Rosie O'Donnell, Suze Orman, Ellen DeGeneres, Wanda Sykes, Rachel Maddow, Portia De Rossi, now Meredith Baxter Birney? Is this re...

Anatomy of the Tea Party Movement: Americans for Prosperity

Alex Brant-Zawadzki, 12.11.2009

Alex Brant-Zawadzki is a writer and journalist living in San Francisco.

Americans for Prosperity engages in dirtier, noisier tricks than its sibling FreedomWorks, so much so that Rachel Maddow called Americans for Prosperity "a parasite that gets fat on Americans' fears."

Heads Should Roll Over Obama State Dinner Security Breach

William Bradley, 11.28.2009

California-based Political Analyst NewWestNotes.com

If I were in the White House, given the overall situation and the extraordinary security lapses of this first state dinner, I would be sending some folks to guard snow plows in Antarctica this weekend.

Washington's Hidden Astroturf Economy

Timothy Karr, 11.18.2009

Campaign Director, Free Press and SaveTheInternet.com

Because they're bankrolling astroturf behind a fig leaf of "public relations," large corporations aren't legally required to disclose the lion's share of their funding of these fake grassroots groups.

No, Rachel, No! This "Health Reform" Could Lose the Middle Class for Dems

Richard (RJ) Eskow, 11.13.2009

Consultant, Writer, Health Analyst

If Democrats and progressives are really concerned about middle-class votes -- and they should be -- it's statements like a recent pronouncement by Rachel Maddow that should concern them.

Sunday Mornings With Rush

Stu Kreisman, 11.02.2009

Emmy award winning writer-producer and author.

Sunday mornings just aren't the same anymore. The days of spending hours leisurely reading the Sunday paper and watching the network news shows are a ...

Campbell Brown Smears MSNBC

Matt Osborne, 10.30.2009

Blogs at osborneink.com.

Fox News is all slant, all the time, while MSNBC is absolutely not a liberal mirror-image. The slant is not equal, nor do the two channels offset like penalties in a football game.

Cartoon: Nattering Naybobs and Noxious Nutballs

Shan Wells, 10.29.2009

Political cartoonist, "Durango Telegraph," toonblogger, political illustrator

With a few notable exception, broadcast news is a very scary place these days. What Edward R. Murrow would think of the current zeitgeist is unknowable, but we might hazard a guess.

Kentucky Straight: Students Call Out Trustees Big Coal Pander in Growing UKY Wildcat Scandal

Jeff Biggers, 10.29.2009

Author, forthcoming "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland"

The scandalous University of Kentucky Trustees may have voted to approve rebuilding and renaming the beloved Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge as the Wildcat Coal Lodge, but the public relations nightmare has just begun.

We Can't Reform Health Care without Reforming Food

Bob Cesca, 10.29.2009

Political Writer, Blogger, and New Media Producer

Without any real changes in how our food is produced, the health care system will continue to bloat and fall apart. Not unlike the insides of an average American body.

The Health Care Ghetto

Jeffrey Feldman, 10.28.2009

Author of Framing The Debate and Outright Barbarous, Founder of Frameshop blog

Will Americans actually be able to choose the public option or will it just be a health care ghetto for those of us who have been tossed out like unprofitable trash by the insurance industry?

Think Again: It's a Bird. It's a Plane. It's...Cable News

Eric Alterman, 10.22.2009

Distinguished Professor of English, Brooklyn College, City University of New York.

Not long ago, cable news cameras turned their focus skyward to an almost celestial body hurling itself across the sky. Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was a hoax.

Lt. Choi Won't Lie for His Country

Amy Goodman, 10.14.2009

Host, executive producer of Democracy Now!, NYT bestselling author, syndicated columnist

Lt. Dan Choi's pre-existing conditions -- being gay and being honest about it -- may be enough to keep him out of the Veterans Affairs health care system for life.

Rachel Maddow Takes on Corporate Agribusiness PR. Next Up, the Fight for Food Safety?

Paula Crossfield, 10.07.2009

Managing Editor of civileats.com

Rachel Maddow continues her work pulling back the layers of American politics to expose underhanded and manipulative lobbying tactics to the public.

Rachel Maddow vs. "Dr. Evil": Smackdown over Rick Berman's Corporate Funding (VIDEO)

Art Levine, 10.07.2009

Contributing editor of The Washington Monthly

Berman has established a bevy of anti-reform "non-profit" websites that enable him to attack everything from ACORN to unions to MADD while defending trans-fats and a low minimum wage as good for the economy.

There Should Be More Pro Athletes Like Tracy McGrady

David A. Love, 10.06.2009

Writer and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia

McGrady is a pro basketball player-turned-human rights activist. He visited refugee camps in Darfur, and he has devoted considerable time off the court to various humanitarian efforts.

Shocked at Seeing a Democrat with Guts

Joan E. Dowlin, 10.05.2009

Freelance musician (French hornist) from the Philadelphia, PA area.

Many Republicans have expressed outrage at Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) for his recent display on the floor of the House of Representatives while discussing health care reform.