Please note as of January 5, 2009 all commentary including original submissions will be archived here. You can also read our current newsletter online.
Creeping authoritarianism on Capitol Hill
What we can learn from one congressman's convoluted defense of the NDAA
by JOHN KNEFEL 
Does it matter Newt cheated?
When all morality collapses into sexual morality, it's the voters who get screwed
by LINDA HIRSHMAN
When a party flirts with suicide
The last time GOP elites lost control of their nominating process, they got Barry Goldwater – and an epic landslide
by STEVE KORNACKI
Entertainment 2011
It wasn't all bad
by Bryan Zepp Jamieson
Two lessons from the Megaupload seizure
by GLENN GREENWALD
Getting Rid of "Anti-Israel" Presidents
by Robert Parry
"The Israeli press is debating the significance of an article by the publisher of a Jewish magazine in Atlanta, Georgia, urging Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to consider sending Mossad hit men to assassinate President Barack Obama."
Do Drones Undermine Democracy?
by PETER W. SINGER
"In America, our Constitution explicitly divided the president’s role as commander in chief in war from Congress’s role in declaring war. Yet these links and this division of labor are now under siege as a result of a technology that our founding fathers never could have imagined."
Rise of the Super-Earths
Astronomers have discovered a giant new kind of planet that could hold life -- and they could change everything
by DIMITAR SASSELOV
The hard truth about Citizens United
On the second anniversary of a terrible decision, every proposed solution has a downside.
by STEVEN ROSENFELD
"These two approaches expose an emerging split among progressives with deeper problems that go beyond the steep if not improbable political climb required to adopt any constitutional amendment: passage by two-thirds of Congress followed by ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures."
Why Obama's 'targeted killing' is worse than Bush's torture
Both are legally prohibited but speciously justified by the White House. The difference? Obama's policy kills innocent bystanders
by Mary Ellen O'Connell
Rules of American justice: a tale of three cases
by GLENN GREENWALD
"So warped but clear are these Rules of American Justice that they produced darkly sardonic applications yesterday. Mazahir Hussein said: 'Bradley Manning should’ve really considered committing some war crimes instead of exposing them.'"
How conservatives lie about government
From Social Security hysteria to "Obamacare" madness, right-wing propaganda is increasingly divorced from reality
by MICHAEL LIND
"One benefit of the prolonged campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has been the revelation that most of the 20 or 30 percent of Americans who describe themselves as conservatives live in a fantasy world."
Thank You for Standing Up
by Chris Hedges
"Our electoral system, already hostage to corporate money and corporate lobbyists, gasped its last two years ago. It died on Jan. 21, 2010, when the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission granted to corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts on independent political campaigns."
Western justice and transparency
by GLENN GREENWALD
"The CIA seems to have dictated to our democratically elected President that he can’t provide the kind of transparency necessary to remain a democracy. We can kill you–they appear to be planning to say–and we’ll never have to prove that doing so was just. You’ll just have to trust us!"
SOTU 2012: An Analysis of President Obama's Speech
by William Galston
Obama’s 99 percent speech
There was plenty of mush in his State of the Union, but also an unmistakably combative and populist tone
by STEVE KORNACKI
Space: The next war zone?
By rejecting an international agreement to demilitarize space, the White House doubles down on American imperialism
by DAVID SIROTA
The self-destruction of Newt Gingrich
He broke his own cardinal rule of debating on Thursday night – and will now pay in humiliation
by STEVE KORNACKI
Deconstructing a Demagogue
by TIMOTHY EGAN
"Gingrich, as he showed in a gasping effort in Thursday night’s debate in Florida, is a demagogue distilled, like a French sauce, to the purest essence of the word’s meaning."
Drowning In Hypocrisy
by Paul Craig Roberts
"But it is in the War Crimes Arena where Washington shows the greatest hypocrisy. The self-righteous bigots in Washington are forever rounding up heads of weak states whose countries were afflicted by civil wars and sending them off to be tried as war criminals. All the while Washington indiscriminately kills large numbers of civilians in six or more countries, dismissing its own war crimes as 'collateral damage.' Washington violates its own law and international law by torturing people."
Overconsumption won’t save America
To avoid another crisis, we need an economy based on thrift and sustainability not loans and credit card debt
bt DAVID SIROTA
Ron Paul's False Founding Narrative
by Robert Parry
"The broad powers that the Constitution granted Congress were designed to let this central government address national problems that existed then as well as others that would arise in the future."
Turning America into Pottersville
by Robert Parry
A win for progressives on Israel
Hardline activists sought to unseat Rep. Donna Edwards over her Mideast views, but failed to raise enough money
by JUSTIN ELLIOTT
"American activists who are more aligned with the hardline positions of the American Israel Public Affairs Council than with J Street have long opposed Edwards and sought to unseat her."
Who are the victims of civil liberties assaults and Endless War?
by GLENN GREENWALD
"Overwhelmingly, the victims are racial, ethnic and religious minorities: specifically, Muslims (both American Muslims and foreign nationals)."
10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free
by Jonathan Turley
"The list of powers acquired by the U.S. government since 9/11 puts us in rather troubling company."
Israel as the Apartheid State
by Willy Scanlon
"The rule of Apartheid not only destroys any proposed future peace agreement but it also promulgates hatred and tensions in both the separated Palestinian and Jewish communities inside Israeli and the occupied Palestinian territories."
Is Killing Iranian Nuclear Scientists Terrorism?
by Kevin Jon Heller
"Again, it is not yet clear that the Mossad are responsible for killing the Iranian nuclear scientists. If they are, though, the fact that they used explosive devices in public places means that the attacks qualify as terrorism under the Terrorist Bombing Convention."
Why I'm Suing Barack Obama
by Chris Hedges
Tiny group of super-rich donors dominate primary
Super PACs now spending more money than the official campaigns, and it's raised from millionaires and billionaires
by JUSTIN ELLIOTT
Mitt’s ticking tax bomb
He all but admits that he pays a lower effective rate than Americans who earn a fraction of his income
by STEVE KORNACKI
Should the government search your brain?
The state may soon be able to force you to reveal your password. That's a huge threat to the Fifth Amendment
by DAVID SIROTA
Chris Dodd’s paid SOPA crusading
by GLENN GREENWALD
The Romney Tax Loophole
by Robert Reich
"It's not how much Romney earns. Everyone knows he's comfortably in the top one-tenth of one percent. It's how much he pays of it in taxes. Romney says he pays a tax rate of 'about 15 percent.'"
The Truth About SOPA: How the Corporate Lobby's Argument Doesn't Add Up
by Joe Sestak
"Instead of punishing American tech companies, which create jobs and are the source of much of our innovation, let's go directly after the pirated content overseas."
The Myth of "Isolated" Iran
Following the Money in the Iran Crisis
by Pepe Escobar
Keystone symbolises what is wrong with US policy
by John Kemp
Progressives, Obamabots and a Realistic Evaluation of the President
by Bob Cesca
Newspapers, “truth vigilantes” no more
The NYT's fact-checking question was absurd, but the real problem is that the press has lost its credibility
by GENE LYONS
Is Citizens United just misunderstood?
Two years after the Supreme Court decision, a lawyer who argued the case says it has been unfairly smeared
by JUSTIN ELLIOTT
The “anti-Semitism” smear campaign against CAP and Media Matters rolls on
by GLENN GREENWALD
Zbig: Israelis “bought influence” and outmaneuvered Obama
The president "should have stuck to his guns" on Mideast peace, says Zbigniew Brzezinski, former NSC advisor
by JORDAN MICHAEL SMITH
Guantanamo’s system of injustice
The first trial of an accused terrorist exposes the flaws of "reformed" military commissions
by LAURA PITTER
Rethinking the Taliban
Don't confuse them with al-Qaida. It's time to start negotiating our way out of Afghanistan
by JORDAN MICHAEL SMITH
Are They Serious?
Laughter at the GOP trails off to stunned silence
by Bryan Zepp Jamieson
"Ever since George W. Bush, the GOP is convinced that it doesn't matter how stupid, crazy or ignorant their office-seekers are."
Michael Hastings on war journalists
by GLENN GREENWALD
Words we don’t want to lose
From "public schools" to "potable water," these 10 terms that could soon leave our vernacular
by DAVID SIROTA
Meet Foster Friess, Billionaire who Bought Iowa for Santorum
by Daily Kos
Justice for the 99%: A new political party for the rest of us
by Nikki Alexander
"A new political party that serves the public interest is now in the process of qualifying for ballot access in time for the 2012 election ~ the Justice Party."
GOP nightmare: Obama fixes the economy
After a handful of recess appointments, fears of a "January surprise" surface in conservative circles
by ANDREW LEONARD
Democratic Party priorities
by GLENN GREENWALD
"The mission here is to enforce partisan loyalty: criticize all you want, but stay loyally in the fold."
Think Again: Conservatives Prefer Reagan Fantasies to Reality (And So Did Reagan)
by Eric Alterman
Canaries in the Data Mines
Civil libertarians raise alarm over America’s national surveillance network.
by NAN LEVINSON
Newt’s Shop of Horrors
by TIMOTHY EGAN
"And yet, of course, what killed Gingrich was in part his own creation, and not just because he himself is a millionaire consultant paid to destroy or inflate on demand. The Frankenstein’s monster emerged from his own shop of horrors."
So what if America is the most religious nation?
if you compare creed and deed, the claim is hollow
by BERNARD STARR
"In one area, the United States is indisputably No. 1. The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world."
Obama’s not-so “dangerous” Pentagon cuts
Republicans pounced on Obama's proposed military cuts as endangering America, but, historically, the plan is modest
by JUSTIN ELLIOTT
The evil of indefinite detention and those wanting to de-prioritize it
by GLENN GREENWALD
Why do we ignore the civilians killed in American wars?
by John Tirman
"However, when it comes to our wars overseas, concern for the victims is limited to U.S. troops."
My Guantánamo Nightmare
by LAKHDAR BOUMEDIENE
"On Wednesday, America’s detention camp at Guantánamo Bay will have been open for 10 years. For seven of them, I was held there without explanation or charge."
Obama’s Republican plan for the Pentagon
Like Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan, the president prunes the military just a little
by LAWRENCE KORB
How a Little Bit of Good Economic News Can Be Bad for the President
by Robert Reich
"Voters pay more attention to the direction the economy is moving than to how bad or good it is."
The Gospel of the Penniless, Jobless, Marginalized and Despised
by Chris Hedges
More murder of Iranian scientists: still Terrorism?
by GLENN GREENWALD
"But if you’re going to claim that terrorism is a barbaric tactic that has to be stamped out, you can hardly endorse its use by the United States just because it’s convenient in this particular case."
Pollitt’s Perplexity about Pundits on Ron Paul
by Falguni Sheth
The new WH Chief of Staff and Citigroup
by GLENN GREENWALD
Iran: The Neocons Are At It Again
by Ralph Nader
Americans May Not Like Capitalism As Much As Conservatives Think
by Kevin Drum
Gitmo: 10 years of injustice and disgrace
by Vince Warren
White House and State Department in No Position to Issue Credible Spying Denials
by Dave Lindorff
Iran and the Terrorism game
by GLENN GREENWALD
"Part of the problem here is the pretense that Terrorism has some sort of fixed, definitive meaning. It does not."
America’s dangerously removed elite
It's easy to cut public education funding when your kids go to private school. Just ask Christie and Emanuel
by DAVID SIROTA
Guantanamo Prisoners Stage Peaceful Protest and Hunger Strike on 10th Anniversary of the Opening of the Prison
by Andy Worthington
Obama’s “mission accomplished” moment?
At the Pentagon, the president whitewashes the Afghan war and looks to continue a disastrous military-first policy
by TOM ENGELHARDT
"When it came to rolling out a new 10-year plan for the future of the U.S. military, the leaks to the media began early and the message was clear. One man is in charge of your future safety and security. His name is Barack Obama. And — not to worry — he has things in hand."
Arthur Brisbane and selective stenography
by GLENN GREENWALD
"That most reporters faithfully follow the stenographer model — uncritically writing down what people say and then leaving it at that — is so obvious that it’s hardly worth the effort to demonstrate it."
New Rules for the New Year
by BILL MAHER
How Many U.S. Soldiers Were Wounded in Iraq? Guess Again.
by Dan Froomkin
"The death count is accurate. But the wounded figure wildly understates the number of American servicemembers who have come back from Iraq less than whole."
Call for US intervention into Iraqi crisis
by James Cogan
End of the pro-democracy pretense
by GLENN GREENWALD
"That’s because one of the prime aims of America’s support for Arab dictators has been to ensure that the actual views and beliefs of those nations’ populations remain suppressed, because those views are often so antithetical to the perceived national interests of the U.S. government."
Why Ron Paul Challenges Liberals
by Matt Stoller
Progressives and the Ron Paul fallacies
by GLENN GREENWALD
It’s time to admit defeat
If we want to avoid repeating our mistakes, we need to stop whitewashing the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan
by TOM ENGELHARDT
Iowa: The Meaningless Sideshow Begins
by Matt Taibbi
"It takes an awful lot to rob the presidential race of this elemental appeal. But this year’s race has lost that buzz."
Blood in my Eyes for You: The Deep Progressive Love for the Laureate's "Industrial Killing Machine"
by Chris Floyd
Iraq: The Legacy of Deception and Its Costs
By Susan Lindauer
How can the expectation levels of this two party duopoly sink any lower?
by Ralph Nader
Preparing to Attack Iran with Nuclear Weapons: "No Option can be taken off the Table."
by Michel Chossudovsky
"When a US sponsored nuclear war becomes an 'instrument of peace', condoned and accepted by the World's institutions and the highest authority, including the United Nations, there is no turning back: human society has indelibly been precipitated headlong onto the path of self-destruction."
Final Curtain: Obama Signs Indefinite Detention of Citizens Into Law As Final Act of 2011
by Jonathan Turley
"With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the history of our country . . . and citizens partied only blissfully into the New Year."
Obama Fails On Minimum Wage Pledge
by Dave Jamieson
Obama (finally) plays recess hardball
The president ignores GOP obstructionism and appoints Richard Cordray as chief consumer finance watchdog
by ANDREW LEONARD
Armed With Naïvete
Time to Stop Being Cynical About Corporate Money in Politics and Start Being Angry
by Bill McKibben
Arms Dealer Obama Will Win by Default
by Robert Scheer
"Barack Obama will be re-elected not as a vindication of his policies but because the Republicans are incapable of providing a reasonable challenge to his flawed performance."
2012
A Fraughtful Year
by Bryan Zepp Jamieson
The intellectual cowardice of Bradley Manning’s critics
by GLENN GREENWALD
"Ever since Manning was accused of being the source for the WikiLeaks disclosures, those condemning these leaks have sought to distinguish them from Ellsberg’s leak of the Pentagon Papers."
All I Want for Christmas Is My Civil Liberties!
by Coleen Rowley
The GOP History of Hostage-Taking
by Robert Parry
"Knowing that the Democrats are hesitant to take those hits, Republicans have held the U.S. economy hostage to extract concessions from President Barack Obama on GOP priorities."
The Bigots and Billionaires in Ron Paul’s Orbit
by Joe Conason
How to argue with right-wing relatives
Responding to common conservative talking points without losing your mind
by ALEX PAREENE
The Coming Accidental War with Iran
by Lyric Hughes Hale
2011: The Year the Power Went Off in Washington
by Arianna Huffington
"This year, what was happening outside Washington was much more important than the tired reruns going on inside the Beltway, however slow the media has been to catch up."
2011 in Review: The Year Secrecy Jumped the Shark
by TREVOR TIMM
"The government has been using its secrecy system in absurd ways for decades, but 2011 was particularly egregious."
Snapshots of Washington’s essence
by GLENN GREENWALD
"Senior Democrats barely blink at the idea that a president from their party has assembled such a highly efficient machine for the targeted killing of suspected terrorists."
U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness in Global Trade
by Jared Bernstein
Obama: The conservative in 2012
by E.J. Dionne Jr.
"Obama is defending a tradition that sees government as an essential actor in the nation’s economy, a guarantor of fair rules of competition, a countervailing force against excessive private power, a check on the inequalities that capitalism can produce, and an instrument that can open opportunity for those born without great advantages."
Obama Year Three: Continuing His Rogue Agenda
by Stephen Lendman
The Warped Morality of a Warmonger: Why Alan Dershowitz is Wrong on Israel’s ‘Rights’
by Nima Shirazi
"Renowned torture enthusiast and perennial Israel apologist Alan Dershowitz was in Tel Aviv this month attending an annual business conference sponsored by Globes and, as usual, took the opportunity to equivocate for Israeli espionage, defend war criminals, and warmonger about Iran."
Surrendering More American Rights
by Lawrence Davidson
"More than a decade after the 9/11 attacks – even after Osama bin Laden’s death and U.S. intelligence assessments that al-Qaeda is collapsing – Congress keeps on chipping away at U.S. constitutional rights in the name of fighting terrorism, and President Obama is ready to go along..."
How to Save Iraq From Civil War
by AYAD ALLAWI, OSAMA AL-NUJAIFI and RAFE AL-ESSAWI
"IRAQ today stands on the brink of disaster. President Obama kept his campaign pledge to end the war here, but it has not ended the way anyone in Washington wanted."
The Molotov Party
For the new GOP, conservative isn’t nearly radical enough.
by Frank Rich
Vote Obama – if you want a centrist Republican for US president
Because Barack Obama has adopted so many core Republican beliefs, the US opposition race is a shambles
by Glenn Greenwald
Three myths about the detention bill
by GLENN GREENWALD
Politics Over Principle
NYT editorial
"The trauma of Sept. 11, 2001, gave rise to a dangerous myth that, to be safe, America had to give up basic rights and restructure its legal system."
A Hitch in Time
The world loses a philosophical giant
by Bryan Zepp Jamieson
Solstice 2011
Dies Natalis Invicti Solis
by Bryan Zepp Jamieson
No, the U.S. is not leaving Iraq
Thousands of armed U.S. private contractors will be based in the country, and the potential for violence is real
by JUSTIN ELLIOTT
What I Want From Candidate Obama: Action, Not Promises
by Curtis Roosevelt
"Our support for 2012 should not require blind faith."
Panetta: Iraq War was “worth it”
by GLENN GREENWALD
"The disastrous legacy of the Iraq War extends beyond treasure squandered and lives lost or shattered. Central to that legacy has been Washington’s decisive and seemingly irrevocable abandonment of any semblance of self-restraint regarding the use of violence as an instrument of statecraft."
Why a Constitutional Law Professor Cannot Sign NDAA, Allowing Military Detention of Americans
by Ralph Lopez
The Four Occupations of Planet Earth
by Tom Engelhardt
"We exist -- and even Time knows it. From Tunis in January to Moscow in December this has been, day by day, week by week, month by month, the year of the protester."
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