BY ALEXANDER COCKBURN They’re off and running! Last Sunday saw the first debate for the Republican presidential nomination. [Actually, there was an earlier “first Republican debate” in South Carolina on May 5, but none of the big guns showed up, so it’s been erased from the history books.] Anyway, this one was in New Hampshire. […]

BY BARBARA SANTEE Over the last few years, the media has been filled with speculation about the assassination of Dr. Tiller and the Tucson shootings....

BY SUSAN ESTRICH It was about six years ago that my old friend Anne and I were sitting around daydreaming, and I started talking about my “perfect” house: three bedrooms [I have two children], convenient to my son’s school, a yard for the dogs and, oh, yes, a peek at the ocean. Then I mentioned […]

BY FROMA HARROP “Can we afford the military budget?” Not quite the right question, but one being asked these days even in hawkish circles. It reflects a break in the Republicans’ traditional reluctance to cut defense spending and a declining enthusiasm for changing other societies through force. The mix includes a re-emerged isolationist strain and […]

BY JIM HIGHTOWER “We have a problem,” said House Speaker Shap Smith of Vermont. “We need to solve it.” This comment reflects a no-nonsense, hands-on, can-do attitude you rarely find in legislative bodies these days. Instead, when most so-called leaders are confronted with a problem, they tend to say, “We need to cover it up,” […]