Opinion - The Nation

The Nation -- One of my all-time favorite television shows is HBO's The Wire. So it's a little surreal to feel like I'm living in an episode. No, I'm not involved in the drug trade or police department. I'm not a stevedore losing my union job, and I'm not a school teacher struggling with No Child Left Behind. Like the reporters and police officers in the fifth and final season of the show, though, I feel like my work, and the work of many of my colleagues are not being adequately supported. In short, the youth vote community is being asked "to do more with less."

The Nation -- Conservatives had a tendency to attribute the all of the reduction of violence in Iraq to the increase in US troops.

The Nation -- The current Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is in the news lately over his endorsement of Barack Obama's plan for withdrawing troops on a sixteen-month timetable, but yesterday in Washington it was a former Iraqi prime minister, Iyad Allawi, who was making news. And it wasn't good news for Maliki.

The Nation -- So John McCain now says the "surge" means all of the counter insurgency techniques deployed in Iraq and not just the increase (or "surge") in troops. This not only does violence to common sense (and insults the intelligence of voters), but, as Matt deftly alludes to here, puts him in direct opposition to one of my heroes, Ludwig Wittgenstein, who famously argued that the notion of a private language is incoherent.

The Nation -- It might be Fox News' worst nightmare: liberal bloggers and black hip hop.

The Nation -- When I interviewed former President Carter about how to pursue and achieve peace in the Middle East, he made two essential points.

The Nation -- So I've been on a bit of a jag about how awful flying is. I've flown four of the last eight weeks and every single return trip has had some very significant problems: three cancellations and one flight delayed long enough we would have missed our connection. What gives?

The Nation -- Vanity Fair has released a cartoon cover online in response to the New Yorker's swipe at the media coverage of the Obamas. The fake Vanity Fair cover shows John McCain, in a walker with a bandaged head and Cindy with a bundle of pills giving her hubby a fist-jab. A portrait of George W. Bush hangs over the mantle-piece; the Constitution is burning in the grate.

The Nation -- More on Novak's hit and run:

The Nation -- Bush To Address GOP Convention On Labor Day

The Nation -- Two news items this week underline the cost of the Bush Administration's bungling anti-Russia policy. Both relate to Russian activity in its old stomping ground in America's Latin backyard.

The Nation -- Karl Rove has spent a career putting politics before due process, democracy and civil rights.

The Nation -- Barack Obama is in the midst of one of the more successful global tours by an American political leader in recent history.

The Nation -- In response to my Nation pieces and a request from Markos Moulitsas, today Time issued a correction to its article about Netroots Nation: The original version of this story said that Hillary Clinton's appearance at a 2007 Netroots Q&A session was greeted by boos. The writer confused that event with accounts of another Clinton appearance that had taken place earlier. Clinton was not booed at the Netroots event.

The Nation -- "I believe any partisanship ends at the water's edge," John McCain said when he visited Colombia in early July.

The Nation -- What was John McCain thinking?

The Nation -- If the Netroots Nation was picking Barack Obama's running-mate, the Democratic ticket would steer left.

The Nation -- Markos Moulitsas responds to my Nation article about the Netroots Nation convention, which discussed how Time erroneously reported that Hillary Clinton was booed in a Q&A session last year:

The Nation -- Barack Obama is preparing to travel to Israel this week.