Politics
The Revolution Will Be Tweeted: Wadah Khanfar Streaming Live This Evening
Photo credit: TED This evening, The Atlantic‘s new event series, Atlantic Exchange, will host former Al Jazeera Director General Wadah Khanfar for a discussion I will moderate titled “Arab Revolutions Televised, Tweeted and Blogged: The Exit & Entrance Interview with Wadah Khanfar.” Khanfar is now the founding President of the Sharq Forum. This will [...]
Continue reading...Egypt and the Held Democracy-Promoting NGO Workers
22 February 2012 – 3:16 am PST
Here are some thoughts on the churn inside Egypt over pro-Democracy NGO institutions that I shared on Al Jazeera yesterday. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham see the crisis coming to a close soon, with the NGO workers released. I hope this is the case — but the now politically dominant Muslim Brotherhood’s support for [...]
Continue reading...Lessons From The National Teach-In: "No Substitute" For An Energized Citizenry
22 February 2012 – 12:27 am PST
Thousands of people who tuned into Tuesday night’s “National Teach-In to Take Back the American Dream” got a remarkable one-hour tutorial on how the economy collapsed, and with it the economic security of millions of working Americans. They also received a sobering reminder that the political system that set the stage for the collapse can’t [...]
Continue reading...2012: The Year of the Billionaire
22 February 2012 – 12:27 am PST
Thanks in large part to the phenomenon of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, 2008 was known as the year of the small donor. While Barack Obama can’t called it’s herald, his decision to accept, if not embrace, the reality of super PACs suggests that the 2012 presidential election — the first post-Citizens United presidential election — [...]
Continue reading...We, The People Have To Say, "No You Can’t Do That"
22 February 2012 – 12:27 am PST
In Will We Choose A Chinese Future, David Sirota asks the core question: “Do we accept an economic competition that asks us to emulate China?” THIS is the choice that the “job creators” are demanding that we make when they say we need to be more “business friendly.” THIS is what they are asking us [...]
Continue reading...Republicans: Against It Before They Were For It
22 February 2012 – 12:26 am PST
First, Republicans opposed extending the payroll tax cut that put an extra $20 a week in the pockets of 160 million working Americans. Next, they supported it. If the cost were offset the way they wanted. Even though Republicans previously had said that tax cuts never need be offset. After that, they opposed a stopgap [...]
Continue reading...On Anniversary of Prank Call the Real David Koch Wants to "Stop Union Power" in Wisconsin
22 February 2012 – 12:26 am PST
One year ago this week, blogger Ian Murphy of the Buffalo Beast pranked Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker by posing as billionaire David Koch on a phone call. As the crowds at the Capitol protesting Walker’s bill to end collective bargaining were increasing in size and volume, the fake Koch inquired how Walker’s efforts to “crush [...]
Continue reading...Is CCA Trying to Take Over the World?
22 February 2012 – 12:26 am PST
“Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?” “The same thing we do every night, Pinky — try to take over the world!” Recently we learned that the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest private prison company in the country, sent a letter to 48 state governors offering to buy up their state-owned [...]
Continue reading...Infographic: The NSA Unchained
22 February 2012 – 12:26 am PST
Late Friday afternoon, the government asked the Supreme Court to dismiss our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2008 law gives the government unprecedented authority to monitor Americans’ international emails and phone calls. Through powers granted through the 2008 FISA Amendments Act — the authority that our lawsuit challenges — the National Security Agency (NSA) [...]
Continue reading...Domestic Drones: Big Brother’s Prying Eyes in the Sky
22 February 2012 – 12:26 am PST
"As technology advances, so does the government’s surveillance powers. If we want to protect our privacy rights, the exercise of this power has to be subject to limits," writes ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer in The New York Times "Room for Debate" discussion about the use of drones domestically, and whether they pose a [...]
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22 February 2012 – 3:16 am PST
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