Politics are divisive and reductive, and voters are squeezed into ill-fitting categories that rub, chafe, and restrict movement. The line between rural America and urban America is one that most presidential candidates straddle poorly, elevating the farmstead as true and authentic; and, on the flipside, rendering cities as elite and immoral. For more on the […]

The substance beneath the scenes

Today, Eugene Robinson has an impassioned call to arms addressed to the media covering the campaign. …we should be relentless in demanding that the candidates talk about the economy and the wars and America’s place in the world. If they won’t sit down to be interviewed, we can shout our questions at them. If they […]

Let’s be clear about what Ayers and Keating mean

An awesome headline from the Beaver County Times captures the “connection” between the crises on Wall Street and the environment. Endangered: Capitalism & Mammals. Kudos.

An interesting two-part documentary from the BBC about freedom of information laws, their evolution and limitations, and applications, in Europe, America, and around the world. Former president and FOI activist Jimmy Carter says that despite the requirement that FOI requests be answered in twenty days, the agriculture department takes more than nine hundred, and the […]

How the soft bigotry of low expectations paints a false picture

In 1996, Kerri Strug earned her place in history when she helped the American gymnastics team secure Olympic gold with a heroic vault on a damaged ankle. In today’s Washington Post, we learned that Sarah “Barracuda” Palin had a similar moment in the spotlight: No one gave the Warriors any chance to win a title […]

In preparation for tonight’s much anticipated vice presidential debates, here are excerpts from a slew debate drinking games. From the Washington City Paper: “When toasting to Biden, immerse yourself in blue-collar Scranton, PA and choose a Rolling Rock (edit-now proudly brewed in New Jersey).” From the Indecision 2008: ” Every time Palin speaks in a […]

Instead of watching “Gossip Girl” with the rest of them, my new TV show this season is “Fringe” on Fox. It’s sort of “X-Files” meets “Medium,” fewer aliens, more para-psychology stuff. The “fringe” in the title refers to “fringe science,” which is defined as “scientific inquiry in an established field of study which departs significantly […]