Progressive Opinion

openleft.com — The New Yorker's editor, David Remnick, has come under quite a bit of fire for the decision to run Barry Blitt's illustration of Barack and Michelle Obama. Underneath the polite discourse is our continuing difficulty in having a frank, but constructive dialogue about the third-rail topic of race.

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Details of Sen. Barack Obama's speech on patriotism got buried in the wake of General Wesley Clark's politically lunkheaded comment that "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" doesn't qualify Sen. John McCain to be president. But over the Fourth of July weekend, it might be appropriate and enlightening to take a few minutes to read or watch the whole thing. more »

nytimes.com — Nearly two decades ago, Republicans won the West by linking Democrats to environmentalists, who supposedly cared more for the spotted owl and other favored species than they did for the jobs of loggers or miners. But now, as a boom in natural-gas drilling reshapes the region, Western Democrats have found success recasting environmentalism as a defense of threatened water supplies, fishing spots and hunting grounds.

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The character John Rambo says in the movie, "First Blood," “In the field, we had a code of honor. You watch my back, I watch yours. Back here there's nothing!” That Nothing is what movement conservatives are selling. It is time we said so. more »

The Fed is keeping banks from having to write down large losses and quite likely go into bankruptcy. Bank executives, whose inept management pushed them into bankruptcy, get to keep their jobs and their salaries, Does this bail out the rest of us? more »

Two interrelated and unacceptable trends have emerged: warehousing over rehabilitation and bias over equal justice. The priorities that should drive our justice system—crime prevention, protection of the public, and fair treatment for all—have given way to the unwise and unequal approach of “prison-fits-all.” more »

blackagendareport.com — Conservatives have stolen and perverted the phrase "self-help." It's time to take it back.

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What did the House speaker know about Bush administration eavesdropping before 9/11? more »

huffingtonpost.com — Why aren't more people standing up against assaults on our pluralism?

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feeds.feedburner.com — Though there have been setbacks, the leftward power shift in Congress is clear.

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