Why Obama's Communist Connections Are Not Headlines
Paul Kengor
There's a lot of frustration among conservatives over how Barack Obama's radical past seems to be making no impact whatsoever among the American public. There is specific reason why. More

All That Darned Conservatism
Randall Hoven
Did you realize that we conservatives got all we wanted and that's what screwed up just about everything, from hurricanes and Iraq to the global financial meltdown? That's a rapidly-developing propaganda theme being disseminated in the Big Media. More

What is it about Democratic presidential candidates and terrorists?
Harold Kildow
What is it about Democratic presidential candidates and terrorists? More

Why Ayers Matters
October 10, 2008
Investor's Business Daily publishes a landmark editorial explaining in detail why we should be very concerned about the long association Bill Ayers and Barack Obama. More

Stopping ACORN
October 10, 2008
ACORN is rapidly becoming a major issue, with the Republican base outraged over the voter registration fraud investigations in ten states. An online petition has been created More

Federal court declares Ohio registration practices illegal
October 09, 2008
Ohio's Secretary of State, the partisan Democrat Jennifer Brunner, is breaking the law by failing to give local officials the opportunity to check newly-registered voters against outside databases. More

Farrakhan calls Obama 'the messiah'
October 09, 2008
Complete with fancy production values like a camera mounted on a crane, The leader of the Nation of Islam refers to Barrack Obama as "the messiah." See it yourself. More

Author, author
October 09, 2008
Jack Cashill's "Who Wrote Dreams of My Father" raises a question that may not be that hard to answer. More

Worse than the AIG Spa Vacation (updated)
October 09, 2008
Look who's feeling no pain in the aftermath of the crisis he helped create. When you've got it, flaunt it, baby. More

ACORN fraud and other Democratic voting shenanigans across the country
October 09, 2008
The fraud is so widespread, the Feds may get involved More

Shocking revelations about Biden in Soviet-era documents
October 09, 2008
Biden's diplomacy during the Salt II talks proves he is unfit to serve as Vice President More

How a President Obama will try to silence conservative critics
October 09, 2008
Political free speech faces the specter of a real threat should Barack Obama win the election. More

Palinphobia
October 09, 2008
What is it with the legacy media? Don't they know when to let up? It's like a pit-bull with a rabbit. More

Rick Moran on KSFO this morning
October 09, 2008
Live on the Lee Rodgers Show. More

Rove: Voters haven't decided yet (updated)
October 09, 2008
It ain't over till it's over. More

Can America Afford Another Jimmy Carter? - Amil Imani

• Who Wrote Dreams From My Father? - Jack Cashill

• Can McCain Come Back? - Richard Baehr

• Polls: Obama or McCain Is Winning - Steven M. Warshawsky

• The Forgotten Issue: Illegal Immigration and Crime - J. James Estrada

From Pop Charts to Politics
Adam Serwer
October 10, 2008
Hip-hop is now a powerful mainstream cultural force, but political activists haven't quite figured out how to mobilize the hip-hop generation.

From the archives: Latoya Peterson on why Barack Obama is the first hip-hop presidential candidate.

Nas joins members of MoveOn.org and ColorofChange.org to protest Fox News coverage of Barack Obama on July 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The group blog of The American Prospect
What does the Dow's dive mean?
Posted at 6:08 p.m.



A respectable liberal blog
Continual tax cuts.
Posted at 4:48 p.m.



Dean Baker's economic commentary
Almost one in six homeowners underwater.
Posted at 5:58 a.m.

Obama Talks Tough About Afghanistan; Here's What He's Really in For

By Anand Gopal, Tomdispatch.com

ForeignPolicy: Afghanistan is filled with poor, jobless people who have seen their families blown up by Americans. And they're itching to get revenge.

12 New Stomach-Turning Revelations About Sarah Palin

AlterNet Staff, AlterNet

Election 2008: Palin has taken to smearing Obama. But it's her own record that continues to yield alarming information, undermining her skills and credibility.


Voter Purges Could Cause Florida-like Presidential Recounts

Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet

Democracy and Elections: If the November vote is close, key swing states that have been illegally rejecting voters could become recount battlegrounds like Florida.


How Scary the Economy Would Be in McCain's Hands

Jared Bernstein, Huffington Post

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: McCain's economic plan contradicts his recently held fundamental views and is far out of touch with the needs of the country.

• McCain Losing Ground With Working-Class Whites
• Lawmakers Weigh Plan for Stimulus
• Colorado to Review How It Purges Voters’ Names
• Obama’s Voter Registration Explosion
• Palin Hired PR Consultant To Burnish Reputation

Progressive Voter Guide to Drug Issues

AlterNet

DrugReporter: Find out how Obama and McCain compare on everything from drug sentencing laws to drug use in politicians' personal lives.


How Badly Can the 'Experts' Ruin the Planet?

Robin Broad, John Cavanagh, AlterNet

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: Look no further than the World Bank to see how many economic, social and environmental problems so-called experts can make worse.


The Meltdown We Really Can't Afford

Kerry Trueman, AlterNet

Environment: We are in danger of passing an extremely dangerous tipping point, with the frightening discovery of massive deposits of sub-sea methane in the Arctic.

Petraeus Talk Bolsters Obama

by Spencer Ackerman, Washington Independent - 2:40 AM

Colbert Report: Joe Scarborough on Why McCain Won't Win

by Staff, The Colbert Report - 4:00 PM

A Nasty, Four-Letter Word for Our Energy Crisis

by Bruce Nilles, Sierra Club - 2:51 PM

McCain Takes His Party Prisoner

by Leslie Savan, The Nation - 2:21 PM

Fixing the Financial Mess Would Be Easier if We Weren't Dealing with the World's Worst Scumbags

by Joshua Holland, AlterNet - 11:56 AM

Global Cannabis Commission: No Justification for Jailing for Pot Possession

Anand Gopal:
The Surge That Failed


Medea Benjamin:
Should Henry 'The Fox' Paulson Guard the Henhouse?


Amy Goodman:
Open the Debates


Christopher Cooper:
Blowin’ Like a circle ‘Round My Skull


Danny Schechter:
The Edge of the Abyss


Stephen Zunes:
Haidar's Struggle


Robert Koehler:
Brace Yourself


Tara Mahtafar:
Sarah Palin and the Confederacy of Dunces


Jeff Biggers:
A Silent Disaster


Sarah Wildman:
The Bush Sex Ed Doctrine


Ken Gude:
Guantánamo's Prisoners of Cowardice


Wednesday, October 8
Robert Scheer:
A Plague Upon the White House


Peter Costantini:
This Sucker Could Go Down


Dave Zirin:
Sarah Palin's Extreme Sports


Donna Smith:
Wall Street Flops Cannot Become Patient Swaps


Mark Morford:
Planet Obama

OPINION | October 10, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist: The Class War Before Palin
By DAVID BROOKS
Over the past few decades, Republican political tacticians decided to mobilize their coalition with a form of social class warfare.

AFGHANISTAN
'Muddling Through'
Asked in November 2003 whether the United States would "finish the job" in Afghanistan, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) responded "I'm not as concerned as I am about Iraq...but I believe that if Karzai can make the progress that he is making then in the long term we may muddle through in Afghanistan." Unfortunately, "muddling through" is just what we seem to be doing in Afghanistan. According to the New York Times, a new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) to be released in November "concludes that Afghanistan is in a 'downward spiral' and casts serious doubt on the ability of the Afghan government to stem the rise in the Taliban's influence there." The report will be "the most comprehensive American assessment in years on the situation in Afghanistan." In addition to the problem of cross-border attacks launched by militants in neighboring Pakistan, and inefficiency and corruption in the Afghan government, the report also describes "the destabilizing impact of the booming heroin trade, which by some estimates accounts for 50 percent of Afghanistan’s economy," according to intelligence officials. Afghanistan produces the most opium in the world.

THE CENTRAL FRONT: A Center for American Progress report, The Forgotten Front, anticipated the NIE's conclusions back in November 2007, noting that while "the United States and the international community initially made great strides to oust the Taliban and al Qaeda and stand up the Afghan government following the invasion in October 2001...the situation has dramatically deteriorated since 2005." The Taliban and Al Qaeda have regrouped in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and now support a growing Afghan insurgency. "Although the current administration has portrayed Iraq as the central front of the 'global war on terror,'" the report states, "Afghanistan and the borderlands of Pakistan remain the central battlefield." The website Long War Journal reported in August that "Afghanistan experienced 18.4 attacks per day in 2008, compared to 12.4 in 2007," with "the eastern provinces bordering Pakistan's tribal areas account[ing] for seven of the remaining top nine most violent provinces." Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of some 60,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, reported that roadside bomb attacks -- "the largest casualty-producing event in Afghanistan" -- are up 30 to 40 percent over last year. CAP's Caroline Wadhams, Colin Cookman, and Jenny Shin wrote yesterday that the new NIE and other reports "confirm that the current U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is desperately off-course and suffering from a lack of resources, policymaker attention, and clear, presidential-level direction."

AIR STRIKES UNSUITED TO COUNTERINSURGENCY: Unfortunately, "as the Taliban and other militants have gained strength, America has dropped more bombs, killing more civilians." A report from U.S. Central Command released on Wednesday concluded that a strike in August had "left 33 civilians dead, including at least 12 children," but that "U.S. forces acted in legitimate self-defense in launching an air assault against Taliban militants." The Afghan government has continually protested the high civilian death toll from air strikes. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that the death of innocent civilians in these attacks could seriously undermine efforts to fight terrorism. Karzai told the U.N.General Assembly in August that the deaths hurt "the credibility of the Afghan people's partnership with the international community." Minimizing civilian casualties is key to a successful counterinsurgency effort, which is one reason air strikes are poorly suited to counterinsurgency. Currently, the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan have had to over-rely on air power because of the overcommitment of troops and resources to Iraq. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen said in July "I don't have troops... to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq." Anger over Iraq has also made NATO allies reluctant to step up their assistance.

NOT A 'SURGE' -- A SUSTAINED COMMITMENT: It's clear that many U.S. military leaders understand that Afghanistan is in crisis. In August, former Iraq commander and current CentCom head Gen. David Petraeus admitted to the New York Times that "the trends in Afghanistan have been in the wrong direction, and I think everyone is rightly concerned about them." McKiernan has "called for four more combat brigades" to deploy to Afghanistan. In August the Pentagon announced the addition of "12,000 to 15,000 additional U.S. troops... possibly as soon as the end of this year, with planning underway for a further force buildup in 2009." McKiernan told the Washington Post that Afghanistan requires a "sustained commitment" to a counterinsurgency effort that could last years. Contrary to McCain's claim that "the same strategy" used in Iraq is "going to have to be employed in Afghanistan," McKiernian said "the word I don't use for Afghanistan is 'surge.'" Describing his approach in a speech Wednesday to the conservative Heritage Foundation, Gen. Petraeus said that "reaching out to insurgent groups...was necessary to the ultimate goal of turning them against irreconcilable enemies" like Al Qaeda. Petraeus believes that success in both Afghanistan and Iraq will require political, not military, solutions, and has stressed "the concept of reconciliation." "You cannot kill or capture your way out of an insurgency that is as significant in size as was the one in Iraq, nor, I believe, as large as the one that has developed in Afghanistan," he said.

ENVIRONMENT -- INHOFE: 'I THINK I WAS RIGHT' THAT GLOBAL WARMING IS 'THE GREATEST HOAX': In July 2003, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) proclaimed that "much of the debate over global warming is predicated on fear, rather than science" and called global warming the "greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the American people." Asked about his comment at a debate earlier this week, Inhofe didn't back down. "I think I was right on that...it's not whether or not we're going into a global warming period. We were. We're not now," Inhofe claimed, adding that "God's still up there. We're now going through a cooling spell." Inhofe then called global warming science "hysteria." NASA's Goddard Institute has shown that average global temperatures have been steadily rising since the turn of the 20th century, not cooling as Inhofe claimed. Moreover, climate scientists agree that the earth is warming and both NASA and the National Academy of Sciences agree that humans are a significant contributor to the problem.

MEDIA -- AFTER AIRING ADS FOR BIG OIL, ABC REFUSES TO AIR WE CAMPAIGN AD: Since September, Al Gore's We Campaign has been running its "Repower America" television ad that criticizes the "hundreds of millions of dollars" that big oil spends on lobbyists and ads to keep Americans "stuck with dirty and expensive energy." Not surprisingly, coverage of the presidential race by the corporate media has been fueled by ad revenue from the hydrocarbon industry. For example, CNN's coverage is sponsored by the coal industry, while CBS is sponsored by Exxon Mobil. Following Tuesday's presidential debate, ABC aired one of Chevron's greenwashing "Human Energy" ads, but has so far refused to air the We Campaign's "Repower America" ad. ABC claimed in a a statement to the We Campaign, "Per our Guidelines, national buildings may be used in advertising provided the depictions are incidental to the advertiser's promotion of the product or service. Given the messages and themes of this commercial, the image of the Capital building is not incidental to this advertising." The offending section of the ad shows the words "Big Oil spends hundreds of millions to block clean energy" superimposed over a photo of the U.S. Capital dome. Cathy Zoi, CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection responded by urging supporters to ask ABC to reconsider its decision.

ETHICS -- ABC REPORT: NSA 'ROUTINELY' LISTENED TO AMERICANS' PHONE CALLS, PASSED AROUND 'SALACIOUS' BITS: ABC News reported yesterday that "despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home." The allegations come from "two former military intercept officers assigned to the National Security Agency" and "include claims that U.S. spies routinely listened in on intimate conversations and sometimes shared the recordings with each other." The Washington Post noted today that "at least some of the snooping was done under relaxed eavesdropping rules approved by the Bush administration to facilitate spying on terrorists." According to the ABC report, NSA employees "routinely shared salacious or tantalizing phone calls that had been intercepted, alerting office mates to certain time codes of 'cuts' that were available on each operator's computer." The chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), called the accusations "extremely disturbing" and said he may hold hearings.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) said his panel "would investigate claims by two military eavesdroppers that they routinely listened in on private calls home from American military officers, aid workers and journalists stationed in Iraq." Rockefeller called the accusations “extremely disturbing."

"Global stocks plummeted Friday after the rout a day earlier on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 7 percent," with European markets falling more than 10 percent at the opening. On Saturday, President Bush will meet with "finance ministers from the world’s richest countries at an unusual White House meeting to swap ideas" as to how to address the global credit crisis.

"The global financial crisis is turning into a bigger drain on the U.S. federal budget than experts estimated two weeks ago." The 2009 budget deficit could be close to $2 trillion, according to David Greenlaw, Morgan Stanley’s chief economist. "Two weeks ago, budget analysts said the measures might push deficit to as much as $1.5 trillion."

Despite declining prices, gas consumption across the U.S. has continued to fall as a result of the faltering economy. Last week, "gas demand was off 5.5% versus last year," while the national average for gasoline fell to $3.40 a gallon.

Yesterday, President Bush created a special council "to guide the transition to a new administration, another step toward the end of Bush’s eight tumultuous years in office." Under an executive order Bush signed, "a newly created Presidential Transition Coordinating Council will meet Wednesday to begin mapping out an orderly handoff" to Barack Obama or John McCain.

"An Iraqi member of Parliament from Moktada al-Sadr's political movement was killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad" yesterday. The legislator, Saleh al-Ugaili, "was the second Iraqi member of Parliament to be killed in violence in 18 months." Followers of Sadr, including his chief spokesman, are blaming the United States for the attack.

And finally: "There's no doubt what Vladimir Putin's favorite birthday present is this year -- a rare Ussuri tiger cub," the AP reports. Putin was seen on Russian state television affectionately petting the two-month-old female cub, who "weighs only about 20 pounds and sleeps in a wicker basket at Putin’s residence outside Moscow." He has not yet settled on a name, but is leaning toward Mashenka or Milashka, and plans to find a home for her in a zoo or wildlife preserve. Fewer than 400 Ussuri tigers live in the wild.

DEAN BAKER
How World Leaders Can Reverse The Financial Slide The meeting this weekend of the G-7 world financial leaders provides an extraordinary opportunity to begin reversing an extraordinary period of extreme economic mismanagement. That meeting should focus on a coordinated financial and monetary policy to stem the immediate crisis. Meanwhile, the U.S. government should launch a coordinated fiscal stimulus program for Main Street.

ERIC RAUCHWAY
Can We Have a New Deal Without the New Dealers? prospect.org — Can a massive government intervention in the economy work if it is being run by people who don't believe in government?

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL
How the Oracle of Wall Street Was Silenced thenation.com — More than a decade ago, a woman you've likely never heard of was the oracle whose warnings just might have averted the calamitous bust now engulfing the U.S. and global markets. Instead she was met with scorn, condescension and outright anger by former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and his deputy Lawrence Summers.

AMITABH PAL
A Reputation in Ruins — Deservedly So progressive.org — So there is justice in the world. The biggest bubble blown in the recent past — Alan Greenspan's reputation — has finally been pricked. Greenspan's judgment was long thought to be infallible. Along with the markets, however, his standing has crumbled, too.

MICHAEL MOYNIHAN
Fear and Reason on Wall Street ndnblog.org — As fear trumps reason and emotion rules, people in panics lose their ability to act rationally and instead move with the herd. However, the branch of economics known as game theory suggests that people acting entirely rationally can still cause a disaster. And this, more than just irrational panic, is the problem we face today.

PHILIP STEPHENS
Crisis Marks Out New Geopolitical Order ft.com — The wreckage of the financial system holds up a mirror to the changing geopolitical balance. It offers advice, and a warning, as to what the west should make of the emerging global order.

EUGENE ROBINSON
Welcome to the Third World, America truthdig.com — Is the United States destined to look and feel increasingly like a "developing country"? Is this the way it's going to be? I want to know if this is some kind of final reckoning for the way we've been living so far beyond our means. Is the bartender finally presenting us the bill for our tab?

MAGGIE MAHAR
Is Health Care a Right? healthbeatblog.org — The idea of health care as a "right" is usually pitted against the idea of health care as a "privilege." Given that choice, I'll circle "right" every time.

FRED WEIR
Russia's Monroe Doctrine inthesetimes.com — Russia's concern is that NATO is creating new dividing lines designed to isolate Russia from the European community. Russians are afraid they'll wake up one morning and find themselves alone.

1. David Brooks: The Class War Before Palin
2. Math Skills Suffer in U.S., Study Finds
3. Paul Krugman: Moment of Truth
4. Your Money: Switching to Cash May Feel Safe, but Risks Remain
5. Bob Herbert: The Mask Slips
6. Alaska Inquiry Concludes Palin Abused Powers
7. The Reckoning: Taking Hard New Look at a Greenspan Legacy
8. Thomas L. Friedman: Palin’s Kind of Patriotism
9. Gay Marriage Is Ruled Legal in Connecticut
10. Basics: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Tolerate Vista

Markets in Need of a Time Out - Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post
The Government Is Contributing to the Panic - Jonathan Macey, WSJ
Swept Up by Insanity of Markets - Joe Nocera, New York Times
The Light at the End of the Crisis - Lawrence Kudlow, RealClearPolitics
It's Not Over, But It's Going Obama's Way - Charlie Cook, National Journal
Can McCain Still Win? - Pat Buchanan, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Real World Consequences of Republican Rule - Bob Herbert, NY Times
Obama vs. Free Speech - Michael Barone, RealClearPolitics
Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting For Obama - Christopher Buckley, The Daily Beast
Catholics Struggle Over Voting For Obama - Charles Lewis, National Post
The 'Unitary Executive' Question - Dana Nelson, Los Angeles Times
Obama's Truth Deficit on Ayers - Maggie Gallagher, Washington Times
Why the Ayers Attack Isn't Sticking - John Dickerson, Slate
A Silence About Terror - John Avlon, New York Post
Back-to-Basics Banking - Robert Kuttner, Boston Globe
The Excesses of Pragmatism - Christopher Caldwell, Financial Times
What History Tells Us About the Market - Jason Zweig, Wall Street Journal
RCP Blog: Obama Tours Philadelphia
Editorials
Global Crisis Needs Global Solution - Daily Telegraph
Time to Act - New York Times
Talking Ourselves Into a Depression - Investor's Business Daily
Somalia and the Pirates - Chicago Tribune

Political News & Analysis
Troopergate Report: Palin Abused Power - Anchorage Daily News
Obama, McCain Scramble to Address Voters' Fears - Wall Street Journal
Crowd Boos After McCain Defends Obama - The Politico
Obama Says Negative Ads Won't Sway Voters - Los Angeles Times

Transcripts & Speeches


The Branchflower Report on Gov. Palin (PDF) - Stephen Branchflower
Obama Says "Now is Not the Time for Fear" - Barack Obama
McCain Proposes 401(k) Rule Changes - John McCain
Shields & Ponnuru on the Week's Events - The NewsHour
Roundtable on ACORN and Voter Fraud - Special Report w/Brit Hume

Best of the Blogs
Sarah Palin Abused Power in Troopergate - Alan Colmes, Liberaland
A Reverse Bradley Effect? - Student Redux, Overdetermined
Jimmy Carter: Know-Nothing - Pejman Yousefzadeh, RedState
McCain Supporters Angry! Mean! Scary! - James Joyner, OTB
McCain vs. His Base - Ezra Klein, American Prospect

A Silver Lining from Economic Crisis - Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek
Every Nation for Itself - Peter Boone & Simon Johnson, Washington Post
The Post-Binge World - Thomas Friedman, New York Times
Fannie and Freddie Must Go - David Oedel, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Issue of Race Creeps Into Campaign - Anne Kornblut, Washington Post
Do Polls Lie About Race? - Kate Zernike, New York Times
Leadership in the Economic Meltdown - Sen. Barack Obama, NY Daily News
Suspicions About Obamanomics Confirmed - Matthew Continetti, Wkly Std
McCain Blew It for Conservatives - David Freddoso, New York Post
What the Troopergate Report Really Says - Nathan Thornburgh, Time
ACORN Probe Gives GOP New Weapon - Alexander Burns, The Politico
The Race Card Is Back - Debra Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle
Steve Schmidt: The Man Behind McCain - Holly Bailey, Newsweek
Indispensable Term Limits - George Will, Washington Post
Gay Marriage Less of a GOP Winner - Josh Harkinson, Mother Jones
We Should Be Voting on Election Day - Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe
Who's to Blame? Go Back to Bedford Falls - Ross Douthat, Washington Post
RCP Nat'l Average: Obama +7.7% / RCP Electoral Map: Obama +119 EVs
Editorials
Put Country First - Washington Post
McCain Mortgages - Chicago Tribune
Up and Down the Learning Curve - New York Times
Restoring Confidency - Wall Street Journal

Transcripts & Speeches


The Branchflower Report on Gov. Palin (PDF) - Stephen Branchflower
Obama Says "Now is Not the Time for Fear" - Barack Obama
McCain Proposes 401(k) Rule Changes - John McCain
Shields & Ponnuru on the Week's Events - The NewsHour
Roundtable on ACORN and Voter Fraud - Special Report w/Brit Hume

Best of the Blogs
Sarah Palin Abused Power in Troopergate - Alan Colmes, Liberaland
A Reverse Bradley Effect? - Student Redux, Overdetermined
Jimmy Carter: Know-Nothing - Pejman Yousefzadeh, RedState
McCain Supporters Angry! Mean! Scary! - James Joyner, OTB
McCain vs. His Base - Ezra Klein, American Prospect

The Exact Word
Jerry A. Kane
What is the right word for Obama. He once told us "words matter." More

Israel doesn't have much time to attack Iran
Edward Bernard Glick
It was in October 2005 that the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, first said that the "Zionist regime" must "be wiped off the face of the Earth." And it was in April 2006 that he called Israel a "fake regime" that "cannot logically continue to live." More

Islam's transcendent challenge
Mike Gonyea
November 4th will be historic not only because the U.S. will elect its first black president or its first female vice president, but also because Pope Benedict XVI will convene the most important interfaith conference in recent history. More

2007:Obama promises to give ACORN a role in shaping his presidential agenda
October 11, 2008
Watch it. He can try to to explain it away, but how persuasive can he be? More

Thug rule brooks no dissent
October 11, 2008
Michael Barone, renowned as a level-headed and fair conservative, joins AT in worrying about the prospect of an Obama administration silencing its critics. More

Good News. NoKo no longer a terrorist state
October 11, 2008
Bush's legacy tops national security. More

Jury Bias Freed OJ -- Now He Cries Jury Bias
October 11, 2008
O.J Simpson's attorneys are planning to appeal the verdict that found their client guilty of all 12 charges based on jury bias. More

Lefty bloggers fall for fake Palin SAT
October 11, 2008
How about a retraction guys? More

Is Obama Running out of Money?
October 11, 2008
based upon what we know and what we can surmise regarding how much Obama has raised and spent, it would appear that there is a good chance Obama went for an early knockout of McCain More

Oh goody. Now we're all going to own stock in banks
October 11, 2008
I regret to report that there are no Republicans or conservatives left in the executive branch of the United States government: More

Is Obama Running out of Money?
October 11, 2008
based upon what we know and what we can surmise regarding how much Obama has raised and spent, it would appear that there is a good chance Obama went for an early knockout of McCain More

Oh goody. Now we're all going to own stock in banks
October 11, 2008
I regret to report that there are no Republicans or conservatives left in the executive branch of the United States government: More

The Sevakis Bailout Plan
October 11, 2008
Think about it. This actually makes sense. More

Probe: Palin 'Abused Power' in firing trooper
October 11, 2008
A partisan witch hunt? Or a sober investigation into wrongdoing by Governor Palin? More

Where's the money coming from?
October 11, 2008
Is the United States bankrupt yet? If not, where will we manage to get another trillion dollars? I report the numbers, you decide. More

Rezko Singing: Obama Sweating?
October 11, 2008
Convicted Chicago political operator Antoin "Tony" Rezko is talking to prosecutors about what he knows as far as corruption in Illinois and Chicago politics. More

• This could be the game changer - Thomas Lifson

• Terrorism as a Career Option - Douglas Stone

• Che Guevara's Rendezvous With Justice - Humberto Fontova

• Liberal Catholic Bigotry Against Sarah Palin - Joseph D'Hippolito

• What happened to the media? - Karyn Gaidos

Recession? Depression? How Deep, How Far and What Can Be Done?

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: A survey of what some of the best thinkers believe we're facing in the coming months and years -- and the best ways to prevent complete disaster.

The Woman Who Could Have Prevented This Financial Mess Was Silenced by Greenspan, Rubin and Summers

Katrina vanden Heuvel, TheNation.com

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: A sad tale emerges of willfully arrogant behavior designed to undermine a wise woman's good judgment.


Why It's Not that Fun to Laugh at Sarah Palin Anymore

Doug Kreeger, AlterNet

Election 2008: Now that Sarah Palin is playing the role of pit-bull with lipstick, it has taken all the fun out of this election.


'We Were Told We Were Fighting Terrorists; the Real Terrorist Was Me'

Aaron Glantz, Haymarket Books

War on Iraq: A powerful excerpt from 'Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan' lays bare the racism at the core of the Iraq occupation.

Voter Election Guide to Human Rights and Civil Liberties

AlterNet

Rights and Liberties: Find out how the candidates compare on a range of issues from torture to wrongful convictions.


Troopergate Investigator: Palin 'Unlawfully Abused Her Authority'

AlterNet

Election 2008: The news isn't good for the Republican vice presidential nominee -- and is an unpleasant reminder of the power abuses of the Bush years.


Why the GOP Is Nuts About ACORN

Richard L. Hasen, Huffington Post

Democracy and Elections: Attacks on ACORN appear to be part of a broader GOP strategy to shrink the number of Dem voters and sow doubts if the election turns out to be close.

McCain-Palin Rally Attendees Say Incredible, Ridiculous Things

Post by Seth Colter Walls
Video: File this one under the "give 'em enough rope" column. More »

• Full Post

David Sirota:

Henry Paulson: Good Businessman or Very Bad Communist?
Is Paulson looking to socialize risk and privatize gain? The answer could be the difference between economic disaster and recovery.



Norman Solomon:

Progressives: Don't Underestimate the Power of McCain's Dirty Tricks
Some progressives believe the McCain campaign is doomed. Let's not forget how low the Republicans will go to win.



Robert Scheer:

McCain and Bush: Unconcerned with the Needs of Ordinary Americans
McCain is not a perfect replica of George W. Bush. But neither man seems to have any sense of how we actually live or what we need from government.

• Palin's a Media Hit? You Betcha. (By Chris Wilson)

• Not So Wonderful Now (By Ross Douthat)

• McCain and Palin Are Playing With Fire (By Khaled Hosseini)

• Dispensable Arrogance (By George F. Will)

• 5 Myths About Those Tinseltown Liberals (By Andrew Klavan)

• What Honeymoon? (By David S. Broder)

• Put Country First (Editorial)

• The Next World War? It Could Be Financial. (By Peter Boone and Simon Johnson)

• Not Quite Ready To Dump America (By Jim Hoagland)

• Bush's Crucial Handoffs (By David Ignatius)

• Those Negative Ads Are a Positive Thing (By John G. Geer)

• Obama & Friends: Judge Not? (By Charles Krauthammer)

• Will McCain Do Anything to Win? (By Harold Ford Jr.)

• Facing Extinction (Editorial)

• Danger Ahead for the Most Dangerous Place in the World (By Sumit Ganguly)

• To Some Readers, Bias on Display (Ombudsman)

• Mark Warner for Senate (Editorial)

• An Energy Fix Written in the Stars (By Ben Bova)

• McCain in a Bear Market (By George F. Will)

• Talk About the Meltdown (By Eugene Robinson)

• Drawbacks in Mr. McCain's Health Plan (Letter)

• Overseeing Finance's New Era (By Henry Kaufman)

• The Case for Keeping Gates (By Nancy Soderberg and Brian Katulis)

• Hoover vs. Roosevelt? (By E. J. Dionne Jr.)

• Who Is John McCain? (By E. J. Dionne Jr.)

• Candor Takes a Beating at Oak Hill (By Colbert I. King)

• Delisting North Korea (By Victor Cha)

• How to Build a House of Cards (Close to Home)

• A Tilt in Campaign Coverage (Free for All)

• Wrong Direction on Nuclear Weapons (Letter)

• Running From Reality (By David S. Broder)

• A Question for Sarah Palin (By Amy Schalet)

• Main Street's Rescue (By Sebastian Mallaby)

• Bush Just Makes It Worse (By Dan Froomkin)

• Mirror, Mirror on the (Facebook) Wall (By Laura E. Buffardi)

The Engine of Mayhem - Robert Samuelson, Newsweek
Markets Remain Best Hope for a Better Future - Judy Shelton, WSJ
History Suggests McCain Faces an Uphill Battle - John Harwood, NY Times
4 Ways McCain Could Still Turn It Around - Walter Shapiro, Salon
The Next Step in Post-Racial Politics - Ruth Ann Dailey, Pittsburgh PG
Acts of Rage, Hate in McCain Corner - Les Payne, Newsday
No Room in America for Class Warfare - Nolan Finley, Detroit News
How Obama Got Joe Six-Pack - John Heilemann, New York Magazine
McCain Should Fire His Campaign - Bill Kristol, New York Times
Jumping Ship on McCain.... - Victor Davis Hanson, Pajamas Media
Obama Picked Biden to Help Him Govern - Ryan Lizza, New Yorker
Obama Gains as New South Trumps Old Race Card - Al Hunt, Bloomberg
Selective Memory & The Bradley Effect - Lance Tarrance, RealClearPolitics
The Lasting Consequences of Bush's N. Korea Surrender - J. Bolton, WSJ
Next President Will Benefit From Move on N. Korea - Victor Cha, WP
Chinese Largesse - Reihan Salam, Forbes
Watch Out, The Left Is On a Roll - Janet Daley, Daily Telegraph
RCP Blog: WaPo/ABC: Obama +10 | AM Rpt / Politics Nation: Strat Memo
Editorials
The Next President & The Economy - Los Angeles Times
Obama's 95% Illusion - Wall Street Journal
The World Vote - Washington Post
Afghanistan a Growing Danger - San Diego Union-Tribune

Political News & Analysis
Obama Rides Wave of Bad Economic News - Los Angeles Times
Clintons, Bidens Stump in Scranton - Washington Post
McCain Vows to Win Wednesday Debate - Associated Press
McCain Struggles to Hold Viriginia - Wall Street Journal

Transcripts & Speeches


Guests: David Axelrod & Rick Davis - Fox News Sunday
Guests: Sen. Graham & Gov. Ritter (PDF) - Late Edition
Guests: Gov. Corzine and Fmr. Rep. Portman - Meet the Press
Guests: Sens. Schumer & Specter; Robert Rubin - Late Edition
The Branchflower Report on Gov. Palin (PDF) - Stephen Branchflower

Best of the Blogs
Abandoning McCain - Victor Davis Hanson, Pajamas Media
Darker and Darker - Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo
McCain Should Call for Special Prosecutor - Tim Griffin, Griffin Room
New Right vs. Middle Class - Big Tent Democrat, TalkLeft
Save the Filibuster - Patrick Ruffini, Next Right

Financial Meltdown 101

By Arun Gupta, Indypendent

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: Everything you ever wanted to know about the biggest economic meltdown since the Great Depression but were afraid to ask.

GOP Attacks on ACORN Are Based on the Fear of 1.3 Million New Voters

AlterNet

Democracy and Elections: Jesse Jackson Jr, Steven Rosenfeld, Digby and Marc Ambinder on the GOP's race-baiting and smear job against ACORN's massive registration efforts.


Not My Financial Crisis -- I've Got Literally Nothing to Lose

Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: Like most people I know in their 20s and 30s, it takes a stretch of the imagination to understand that I have a stake in the national economy.


Stop Being a Narcissist -- It's Time to Quit Facebook

Carmen Joy King, Adbusters

Media and Technology: In the end, what does all this online, arms-length self-promotion ultimately provide?

Our Next President Will Transform the Supreme Court

Ellen Goodman, Washington Post Writers Group

Reproductive Justice and Gender: John McCain has promised the court to the right wing, and Roe v. Wade is first up on the chopping block.


Religulous: Atheists Will Love Bill Maher's New Flick

DJK, Brave New Films

Video: Bill Maher questions religion's inherent contradictions in a new documentary.


How World Leaders Can Reverse the Economic Meltdown

Dean Baker, Mark Weisbrot, Campaign for America's Future

Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: A broader stimulus package is desperately needed to right a listing economic ship.

The group blog of The American Prospect
McCain admits lying to America.
Posted at 5:06 p.m.



A respectable liberal blog
Fallows on McCain and the economy.
Posted at 5:18 p.m.



Dean Baker's economic commentary
We really could have a great depression.
Posted at 11:03 p.m.

Obama's Three Strikes
J.R. Dunn
Three is a meaningful and potent number, for both good and evil. In this case, three is all that is required to establish a pattern of malignant activity. More

The Left has destroyed anti-nuclear proliferation
James Lewis
In a sane world every responsible nation and political party would pull together to keep the nuclear genie bottled up tight. By that standard we are not living in a sane world. More

Why Obama's socialism matters
Bookworm
The only way to explain the disinterest in Obama's past and its relationship to his present is that Americans no longer consider the label "socialist" to be a pejorative. More

Palin's real accomplishments in energy policy
October 13, 2008
Reducing her policy to "drill, baby, drill" may make her ignorant opponents feel better but it is far from the truth. More

New York Times Unhinged Columnist wins Nobel Prize in Economics
October 13, 2008
Must be a new category: the prize for "Distinguished Hate Speech" More

Obama's 'No Preconditions' pledge blows up in his face
October 13, 2008
Iran has its own ideas about preconditions. Will Obama accept? More

Gasoline price: biggest drop ever
October 12, 2008
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States recorded its largest drop ever. More

Hypocrisy 101
October 12, 2008
Rep. John Lewis, Georgia Democrat, has unleashed the vicious attack on John McCain and Sarah Palin that we have been anticipating of late. More

AP softens hostage takers into just gardeners
October 12, 2008
The AP runs an article about Bureau of Land Management agents held hostage by Mexian pot farmers using public lands. The article is outrageous, referring to a marijuana "garden" More

Meanwhile, back at the economic crisis...
October 12, 2008
A vital meeting in Washington that all hope will help calm the markets. More

Don't tell me - ANOTHER radical in Obama's background?
October 12, 2008
One more radical the press can ignore. More

Myths about Hollywood Liberals
October 12, 2008
Are Hollywood liberals patriotic? More

Shut Up And Bail
October 12, 2008
As the markets take a breather this weekend, let's look at what happened over the seven business days after the Senate's bailout vote, that is, from the close of October 1 to the close of October 10. More

Another Obama Muslim Outreach Director meets with terrorist supporters
October 12, 2008
A little problem with enemy identification, no doubt. More

More Cuban Sports Stars Defect
October 12, 2008
More talent for our professional sports teams and freedom and opportunity for the Cubans. More

1. Frank Rich: The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama
2. Paul Krugman: Gordon Does Good
3. The Man Behind the Whispers About Obama
4. Maureen Dowd: Are We Rome? Tu Betchus!
5. The Food Issue: Farmer in Chief
6. Professor and Columnist Wins Economics Nobel
7. Those With a Sense of History May Find It’s Time to Invest
8. Hindu Threat to Christians: Convert or Flee
9. Under ‘No Child’ Law, Even Solid Schools Falter
10. Bob Herbert: Amusing, but Not Funny