US Politics

Balancing Human Rights and Superpower Politics

Thomas Probert | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Human Rights, China, China Human Rights, US Politics, Chen Guangcheng, Barack Obama, Politics News
Thomas Probert

Tensions between Washington and Beijing mount with every development in the story of the blind Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng. Washington is trying to keep the issue low-key, but Obama faces mounting Republican criticism that he is too soft on China's human rights record.

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Handling (or Mishandling) the Real Emotional and Life Shocks from Economic Uncertainty

Jay Levin | Posted 04.30.2012

Read More: Stress, U.S. Politics, Short-Attention-Spans, Anxiety, Soma Breathing, Irritability, Anger Management, Healthy Living News
Jay Levin

When you find yourself short-tempered and on edge with co-workers, family or friends, instead of acting out, see if you can locate where the emotional pain and stress are most palpably present in your body.

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The Undeserving and the Common Good

Gary Dorrien | Posted 04.10.2012

Read More: Taxes, Republicans Taxes, U.S. Politics, Social Security, Tea Party Republicans, Medicare, Tea Party, Barack Obama, Republicans, Politics News
Gary Dorrien

Tea Party Republicans are quite certain that they deserve their own Social Security and Medicare. But they are outraged that undeserving people get taxpayer-funded benefits from the government.

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America's Exceptionalism

Ijeoma E. Okoli | Posted 03.04.2012

Read More: American-Exceptionalism, 2012 Elections, Statue of Liberty, United States, US Politics, Culture News
Ijeoma E. Okoli

America is far from perfect, but it is still exceptional. Exceptionalism does not mean perfection, rather exceptionalism acknowledges a lack of perfection, but continues to goad all citizens, without coercion and regardless of their origins, to strive for prosperity and excellence.

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Sustainability, Politics, and Consumerism

Steven Cohen | Posted 02.27.2012

Read More: Green, Sustainability, U.S. Politics, Holiday Season, Consumerism, Sustainable Economy, Material Based Economy, Green News
Steven Cohen

There is a paradigm shift underway toward a sustainable, renewable economy. At its core will be a new form of consumerism and new modes of production.

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Are Christian Zionists Replacing Mainstream US Jews?

Brent E. Sasley | Posted 02.18.2012

Read More: Christian Zionism, Zionism, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, US Politics, American Jews, Christianity, Religion News
Brent E. Sasley

However, as a political force Christian Zionism's power is facilitated by Israel and by American Jewry itself; on its own, it cannot survive. It needs Jewish Zionism, because without it, Christian Zionism can't make a sufficiently strong political case.

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Obama Needs More Involuntary Head-Nods

Eliot Daley | Posted 02.14.2012

Read More: 2012 Presidential Election, Campaign Strategy, Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Taxes, US Politics, President Barack Obama, Middle Class, 2012 Election, Elections 2012, Politics News
Eliot Daley

Maybe, just maybe, President Obama is finally shaking off his subdued demeanor and will resume the kind of soul-stirring leadership stance that carried him into office.

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What Would We Do?

Jeffrey Abelson | Posted 02.11.2012

Read More: Political History, Congress Politics, American Politics, U.S. Politics, Constitution, Governors, Senators, Politics News
Jeffrey Abelson

Do most citizens have a fully reasoned view of what we want government to actually do? Is that at the root of the polarization poisoning American politics? Perhaps a little thought experiment would help.

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Chase Bank, Microsoft and What's Good for America

Ethan Casey | Posted 01.08.2012

Read More: Seattle, Chase Bank, Wall Street Crisis, Occupy Wall Street Protest, Wall Street, US Society, US Politics, Economy, Occupy Wall Street, Banks, Banking Crisis, Jamie Dimon, US Economy, Occupy Movement, Business News
Ethan Casey

Now, finally, we have one light-rail line that doesn't yet serve either the suburbs or my neighborhood. Is it too little, too late? The question is a microcosmic version of one that now looms over America as a whole.

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People "Are Occupying Wall Street Because Wall Street Has Occupied the Country"

Bill Moyers | Posted 01.02.2012

Read More: Third World America, Public Citizen, Middle Class, Occupy Wall Street, Government Corruption, #Occupywallstreet, Bill Moyers, US Politics, Zuccotti Park, Media News
Bill Moyers

2011-11-02-djjdfjkdjfmoyers.jpgOur politicians are little more than money launderers in the trafficking of power and policy -- fewer than six degrees of separation from the spirit and tactics of Tony Soprano.

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Mural Celebrates Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Posted 11.20.2011

Read More: Don't Ask Don't Tell, Politics, U.S. Politics, Brooklyn Street Art, U.S. Military, Murals, Street Art, Tesone, United States, Video, Arts News

Brooklyn Street Art reports: TesOne just completed a brand new painting titled “Honesty is the Best Policy” to celebrate the repeal of the highly ...

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What Happened to America?

Marty Kaplan | Posted 11.06.2011

Read More: Noam Chomsky, Gallup Poll, Barack Obama, Elections 2012, Obama Approval, Tea Party, US Politics, Spectator Democracy, Politics News
Marty Kaplan

After decades of corporate triumphalism, which concentrated wealth and power in fewer hands, and after generations of government being so compromised it is no longer capable of checking that power, the better question may be: How could it not have happened?

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What's Happening to America?

Ethan Casey | Posted 10.09.2011

Read More: US Credit Rating, Super Congress, Nazi Germany, Congress, Nyse, Debt Ceiling, John Boehner, USA, Stock Market, Pakistan, President Obama, Standard & Poor's, Right Wing, Obama, Democrats, U.S. Credit Rating, Obama Debt Ceiling, House Republicans, Barack Obama, American Politics, Super Committee, Stock Market Crash, Dow Jones, Nazis, Wall Street, US Politics, Germany, US Government, 112th Congress, New York Stock Exchange, Republicans, Politics News
Ethan Casey

A decade ago, I read a book that made a lasting impression on me. It was a memoir called Defying Hitler by Sebastian Haffner, who had recently passed ...

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Who Gets to Define Terrorism?

Ethan Casey | Posted 09.25.2011

Read More: Terrorists, Norway Shooting, Terrorism, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Christian Fundamentalism, Anders Behring Breivik, Jihad, American Politics, U.S. Politics, Norway, Counterterrorism, Oslo Bombing, American Muslims, Guantanamo Bay, Muslims, Oslo, Norway Bombing, Politics News
Ethan Casey

My column last week on drone attacks so clearly struck a nerve that I intended to write a follow-up this week, addressing some of the many comments an...

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To Maintain a Republic

David Bromwich | Posted 09.02.2011

Read More: Abraham Lincoln, Congress, July 4, U.S. Politics, Fourth of July, American History, Politics News
David Bromwich

Over the past decade we have taken many long steps across the divide that separates a republic from an empire. The recovery of our proper ground depends on our seeing for ourselves the rightness of Abraham Lincoln's recoil from wars that are not wars of necessity.

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The Obama-Shaped Leadership Void

Ethan Casey | Posted 08.28.2011

Read More: Egypt, India, President Obama, US-Pakistan, Michele Bachmann 2012, John Boehner, Afghan War, Iraq, Obama, Democratic Party, Sarah Palin, American Foreign Policy, Libya, 2012 Presidential Election, 2012 Election, Afpak, Republican Party, John McCain, President Barack Obama, Pakistan, Afghanistan War, Mitt Romney, US Foreign Policy, Democrats, Barack Obama, Muslim World, Iraq War, American Politics, John McCain 2008, Michele Bachmann, Cairo, US Politics, Mitt Romney 2012, US-Pakistan Relations, Afghanistan, Republicans, Obama Cairo Speech, Obama Muslim World, Politics News
Ethan Casey

One of my purposes in this column is to help myself and my readers understand a rudderless country with a feckless president, a military caste with an...

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Pakistan and the American Learning Curve Part 2

Ethan Casey | Posted 08.23.2011

Read More: Online Commenting, American Politics, Media-Issues, US Politics, Pakistan, US Foreign Policy, American Society, Afpak, Media, US Media, American Media, American Foreign Policy, World News
Ethan Casey

To write on controversial subjects in a way that I consider helpful takes a capacity for keeping one's cool and a willingness to refrain from scoring cheap points. That's no more true of Pakistan than of any other subject.

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Why TARP Proves America Can Emerge From Political Deadlock

Financial Times | Gillian Tett | Posted 07.13.2011

Read More: Political Gridlock, Tarp, Aig, Financial Crisis, Lessons Financial Crisis, Political Deadlock, US Politics, Troubled Asset Relief Program, Business News

Not many things have emerged from the quagmire of US Congress recently which have produced a truly pleasant surprise. But could the troubled asset rel...

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Ahmadinejad's Lesson for the Free World

Carlo Strenger | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Freedom of Speech, 9/11, 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama Birth Certificate, Higher Education, Obama Muslim, US Politics, World News
Carlo Strenger

Ahmadinejad's conspiracy theories about 9/11 and his Holocaust denial show how critical it is that the Free World protect truth from ideology.

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Mapping the Political Thoughts of Americans

Wilson Schlamme | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Polls, Wilsonsmap, Political Sentiment US, US Politics, Technology News
Wilson Schlamme

I realized that I didn't really know what the people, in their own words, thought about politically in the US. I decided to solve this problem through technology.

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Buck Up, America! Your Best Days Are Still Ahead

Frankie Sturm | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: 4th of July, Afghanistan, US Military Spending, Foreign Policy, World Economy, National Debt, Military, National Security, US Politics, Liberalism, Military Spending, US Debt, Truman National Security Project, Foreign Affairs, Truman Project, American Decline, Politics News
Frankie Sturm

America remains the strongest and most influential country in the world. However, according to a recent poll, 58 percent of Americans don't believe it. Who could blame them?

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Popping the Washington Post's Rahm Bubble

Steve Clemons | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Palace Intrigue, White House, Valerie Jarrett, Guantanamo, Dana Milbank, Barack Obama, Detainees, Rahm Emanuel, US Politics, Jason Horowitz, David Axelrod, Robert Gibbs, Idealism, Dan Froomkin, Gregory Craig, Torture, Politics News
Steve Clemons

Rather than fighting to save his own skin and to skewer others who are in and out of the Oval Office nearly as much as he is, Emanuel needs to help champion a sensible transition to a more effective team.

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President Obama, A CEO Would Change Up the Team

Steve Clemons | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Policy, Palace Intrigue, Edward Luce, Steve Clemons, Valerie Jarrett, US Politics, Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Leslie Gelb, Dana Milbank, Robert Gibbs, Health Care, Barack Obama, Jane Hamsher, Politics News
Steve Clemons

The Obama team is failing on most major policy challenges. The president needs to strategically redeploy his closest group of advisers, change up the game, move some others in, and alter their assignments.

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Are Congressional Democrats Irrational?

Shadi Hamid | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: U.S. Politics, Congress, Health Care, Democrats, Barack Obama, Islamists, Healthcare Reform, Politics News
Shadi Hamid

If Democrats give up on health reform, then I suspect it will be the dumbest political act in the recent history of American politics.

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Is What Harry Reid Said Wrong?

Michael J.W. Stickings | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Racism, Harry Reid, Race, US Politics, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Politics News
Michael J.W. Stickings

Choice of words aside, was Reid wrong? That is, has Obama benefitted politically from being "light-skinned" and for not having a distinctive black dialect?

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