BY JIM HIGHTOWER We know from the childhood song that Old McDonald had a farm – but e-i-e-i-o – look who’s got his farm now! It’s groups like American Farmland and Farmland Partners. These aren’t dirt farmers wearing overalls and brogans, but Wall Street hucksters in Armani suits and Gucci loafers. The latest fast-buck fad […]

BY JOE CONASON As the Republican right’s fear swells in advance of Hillary Clinton’s anticipated presidential campaign, conservatives’ feverish smears increasingly resemble the desperate gambits of a certain Wile E. Coyote. The latest episode in their cartoonish crusade appeared in the Washington Free Beacon, which headlined “The Hillary Letters” the other day with an ominous […]

BY FROMA HARROP The low point of the ObamaCare debate – and there was much probing of the floor – had to be the “death panel” charge. It was the creepiest in a volley of lies aimed at killing health care reform. What was the fuss about? A proposal to pay doctors for time spent […]

BY JOE CONASON If the latest polls are accurate, most voters believe that Republican politicians deserve greater trust on matters of national security. At a moment when Americans feel threatened by rising terrorist movements and authoritarian regimes, that finding is politically salient – and proves that amnesia is the most durable affliction of our democracy. […]

BY SUSAN ESTRICH “If we take the proper steps, we can save lives, but we have to act fast,” President Obama said last Tuesday. “We can’t dawdle on this one. We have to move with force and make sure that we are catching this as best we can given that this has broken out in […]