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Obama’s “New Politics” Inspired by Rush Limbaugh and Ken Starr

by Edward Olshaker

In the closing days of the primary season, unity was finally achieved—between the Obama campaign and the most extreme elements of the GOP attack machine, who spoke with a single voice as they eagerly ascribed the darkest imaginable thoughts and motives to Sen. Hillary Clinton simply because she mentioned the murder of Sen. Robert Kennedy. Just as remarkable, the Obama team was gearing up to resurrect the thoroughly yet fruitlessly investigated Whitewater controversy if the race had been

American Democracy: The 10 Alarm Fire We're Ignoring

by Rick Shenkman

What was I thinking when I decided to name my book: Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter?  

RFK 6/6/68 -- No Joking Matter

by Joseph Palermo

The lengthy primary campaign of 2008 has produced a bevy of tasteless references to political assassination in general, and to Robert F. Kennedy's killing in particular. The former Arkansas governor and Republican pr

How Monica Changed Everything: The Deal It Undid Between Gingrich and Clinton

by Steven M. Gillon

As the nation engages in another contentious presidential election we are reminded of the deep partisan differences that divide Americans. Democrats and Republicans are far apart on nearly all the big issues facing the nation. The moderate middle has disappeared. A number of forces have conspired to create this new hyper-partisanship, from well-financed special interest groups that require fidelity to their cause, to a 24-hour news cycle that values confrontation over consensus.

McCain’s Ministers of Doom

by Matthew Avery Sutton

John McCain had better get someone on his staff who understands American religion, and fast. In his efforts to court the Religious Right, he has taken the worst approach possible. Rather than build bridges to the new generation of evangelical power players such as Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Joel Osteen, each of whom tries to put the emphasis on the compassion in “compassionate conservative,” he has instead been wooing tongues-speaking, fire-breathing, ministers of doom.O

George W. Bush's Revisionist History

by Allan J. Lichtman

With the mainstream media fixated on remarks by preachers at Trinity United Church in Chicago, it has largely ignored far more consequential comme

Does Barack Obama Have Testicular Fortitude?

by Arica L. Coleman

During this protracted Democratic primary season, issues of race and gender have taken center stage. Race and gender politics are no stranger to the political trail; however, they have become the competing elephants in the room now that the final choice for the nomination has come down to an African American male, Barack Obama and a white woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton. While this is undeniably a historic moment in American politics, the analysis of race and gender within the body politic, f

Incitement to Assassination Has a Special Place in the History of Racism

by Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore

When Liz Trotta, Fox News analyst, recently suggested on the air that assassinating “Osama, um, Obama—well, both, if we could,” would be a good idea, she followed a century-old playbook used to intimidate African Americans by warning that violence would follow if they exercised civil rights. Her comment became a popular You Tube viewing experience over Memorial Day weekend. Then she said, “I apologize to anybody

Hillary Clinton and the Possessive Investment in Whiteness

by Arica L. Coleman

Now that the North Carolina/Indiana primaries are over, many are hearing the death knell of the Clinton campaign as Barack Obama’s path to the Democratic nomination appears imminent. Notwithstanding her overwhelming defeat in North Carolina and narrow victory in Indiana, which did nothing to bring her closer to narrowing the delegate gap, Clinton is not ready to cede the race. In her victory speech, even while the news outlets were still reporting that Indiana was “too close to ca

Kennedy's Chances of Survival and McCain's

by Steven Lomazow, M.D.

Recently, it has been all too frequent an occurrence to have to assess the survival chances of prominent individuals with cancer. Ted Kennedy’s recent diagnosis is the latest and his prognosis cannot be sugar coated. While the exact stage of his “malignant glioma” has not been revealed, a rough estimate on a credible website succinctly notes “of 10,000 Americans diagnosed each year with malignant gliomas, about half are alive 1 year after diagnosis, and 25% after two y

Must We Ever "Fear to Negotiate"?

by Ralph E. Shaffer and John A. Moore Jr.

At the height of the Cold War in 1961, President Kennedy suggested to fellow Americans in his inaugural address that the time had come to lessen the tension then existing between the Soviet Union and the United States: "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." Had Kennedy made that statement in 2008, it would surely have brought down upon him the wrath of George W. Bush and John McCain. The president and the likely Republican Party presidentia

What Thurgood Marshall Would tell the Roberts Court

by Mary L. Dudziak

This week’s anniversary ofBrown v. Board of Education falls nearly 100 years since the 20th century’s greatest civil rights lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, was born (July 2, 1908). Brown was a milestone in the nation’s civil rights history; the case also christened Marshall, the plaintiff’s lead attorney, as “Mr. Civil Rights.” Not long after, Marshall would be eclipsed by a new generation of civ

Are We the Bastard Children of RAND?

by Alex Abella

Sixty years ago this May an obscure team of defense research scientists quietly incorporated into an organization that would rewrite world history. They kept the cryptic acronym they had given themselves when

It's Your Turn Kentucky!

by Thomas Fleming

“Young man, have you always been a Democrat?” Almost forty years ago, Harry S. Truman asked me that, with a twinkle in his 82-year-old eyes. He was only half kidding. He had personally selected me to help his daughter Margaret write his biography because he liked several of my recent books. “Mr. President,” I replied. “As far as I know, no one in the family has ever voted anything but the straight ticket.” Mr. Truman’s smile could not have

Should We Be Concerned that John McCain Has a History of Skin Cancer?

by Steven Lomazow, M.D., Eric Whitman, M.D

 

Why Have Obama's Poll Numbers Been More Accurate in the South than Elsewhere?

by James C. Cobb

Barack Obama’s big win in North Carolina came as no great surprise to me, given the significant African American and up-scale white Democratic demographic representation in the Tarheel State. I was mildly surprised, however, by his near-win in Indiana because Real Clear Politics.com’s last cumulative pre-election poll average showed him trailing Hillary Clinton by four points, and he eventually lost by only two. This difference hardly seems earth-shaking until you consider that in

Whatever Happened to the Gentleman?

by Carol V. Hamilton

"I would rather prove my self to be a Gentleman, by being learned and humble, valiant and inoffensive, vertuous, and communicable, then by a fond ostentation of riches."-- Walton, The Angler (1653)On the local news in Pittsburgh one evening, I was startled to hear a woman complain to a reporter, “that gentleman exposed himself to my little girl.” By definition, a “gentleman” would never behave in such a fashion. Ever since I have noticed

Why We Better Ask Some Hard Questions About Presidents and Their Health

by Steve Lomazow

In this election year, the issue of Presidential health will surely come to the forefront. One of the major party candidates, John McCain, will not only be the oldest nominee of a major party, but also has a past medical history, diagnosed in 2000, of stage 2a melanoma, a skin cancer that could potentially recur during his term. While the beliefs and preaching of a close advisor to a prominent candidate is garnering a firestorm of media attention, a history of a potentially fatal disease is

Are Blacks Being Victimized Twice by the Cherokee?

by Arica L. Coleman

In 1983, the Cherokee nation revised its constitution, stripping the Cherokee Freedmen, descendants of former Cherokee slaves, of their voting rights and citizenship status. According to the tribal election council, the Freedmen are not Cherokee “by blood” and thus are not “real” Cherokees. To the chagrin of many tribal members, on March 7, 2006, in a 2-1 decision, the Cherokee Supreme Court reversed the earlier decision calling the expulsion of the Freedmen unconstituti

Is Hawaii a Colony that Needs to Be Freed?

by Jonathan Dresner

The Nation just published Hawaii Needs You: An open letter to the US left from the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. It's accompanied by a report on the sovereignty movement by Elinor Langer that largely echoes earlier commentary here at HNN, but is notable for its failure to put the movement in anything resembling the p