Roundup: Media's Take

Thomas Frank: How a gang of right-wing con men destroyed Washington and made a killing

Corruption is uniquely reprehensible in a democracy because it violates the system’s first principle, which we all learned back in the sunshiny days of elementary school: that the government exists to serve the public, not particular individuals. We Are the Government, insisted the title of a civics primer published in the earnest year of 1945. “The White House belongs to you,” its dust jacket told us. “So do all the other splendid buildings in Washington, D.C.” This idea runs so deep in t

Richard Haass: Who Cares Where Spain Is?

[Haass, a NEWSWEEK contributor, is president of the Council on Foreign Relations.] Consider the inbox of the 44th president of the United States. He will face ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; a Pakistani government that is unable or unwilling to take on the terrorists who have set up shop in the country's western reaches; and an Iran apparently intent on developing nuclear weapons. Beyond the greater Middle East, there are the challenges of a more assertive Russia, a risin

Bernard Weiner: European Friends Write: "Are You Americans Crazy?"

[Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at Western Washington University and San Diego State University, worked as a writer/editor with the San Francisco Chronicle for two decades, and currently serves as co-editor of The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org).] Dear Wolfgang and Jacqueline: Yes, I know that you and other European friends are, as you put it, "totally confused" by w

Ihor Kharchenko: The history is complex, but there's no doubt Crimea is part of Ukraine

[Ihor Kharchenko is the ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom.] Your report from Sevastopol, "the historic home of Russia's Black Sea fleet", gave the impression that Ukraine should be feeling guilty because the Crimean peninsula falls within its own territory (Divided peninsula plays host to Russian warships and Ukrainian pride, September 16). "On the streets of Sevastopol, the mood is defiantly pro-Russian," you report. "It is also vehem

Gyula Hegyi: The new Warsaw Pact

[Gyula Hegyi is a Hungarian socialist member of the European parliament.] Outside the Soviet Union, communist Poland was the strongest member of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet-led alliance that bound eastern Europe between 1955 and 1991. The very name of the treaty underlined Poland's special role in it. Most Poles disliked Russian rule, but many thought that the Soviets at least could defend them and their newly gained western territories against the Germans. Today a new

Jeff Biggers: Wall Street Under Oath: What Have We Learned?

[Jeff Biggers is author of The United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture, and Enlightenment to America (Shoemaker and Hoard, 2006).] "These laws are no panacea; nor are they self-executing. More than ever, we must maintain our vigilance." --Ferdinand Pecora, Wall Street Under Oath, "A Word About the Future," 1939 Bailout or otherwise, we don't need no stinkin' commission to understand the roots of the curren

Andrew Leonard: Was Rockefeller behind Glass-Steagall to outmaneuver rival Morgan?

... Exhausted by the pace of keeping up with minute-by-minute financial chaos, I took a break for the last hour or so and read Alex Tabarrok's "The Separation of Commercial and Investment Banking: The Morgans vs. The Rockefellers," published in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics in 1998. Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He co-authors the popular Marginal Revolution blog with Tyler Cowen, and he leans strongly libertarian (a poi

Jonathan Chait: Palin's being sold like Quayle Was

... In lieu of opening Palin to regular questioning from the press corps, of the sort the other three candidates have all undergone many times before, the McCain campaign is helpfully leaking positive appraisals of her studiousness. "Despite the worries, [Palin] struck many campaign officials as more calm and cerebral than expected," reported Newsweek. "She was quick to ask questions, and to 'engage in a back and forth' with briefers." See, the McCain campaign says she's on t

Andrew Leonard: Did Fannie and Freddie cause the meltdown?

.... Fannie and Freddie did not cause the subprime mortgage crisis. The private sector, acting on its own initiative, serenely confident in its own financial manipulations, spawned the greatest Wall Street conniption since the Great Depression. Fannie and Freddie got into the game late, after watching in dismay as their market share in the lucrative business of originating and selling off pools of mortgage-backed securities began to shrink. There are many bit players in this dram

Mark Sumner: John McCain ... Crisis Enabler

[Mark Sumner, better known as the editor "Devilstower" on Daily Kos, is the author of thirty-two novels, a past winner of Writers of the Future, and has been nominated for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Award.] Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is Enemy Action. --Auric Goldfinger James Bond's wealthy nemesis may have had an obsession with gold, but he judged, quite correctly, that if people keep putting your plans awry, that was like

Godfrey Hodgson: America’s election faultline

[Godfrey Hodgson was director of the Reuters' Foundation Programme at Oxford University, and before that the Observer's correspondent in the United States and foreign editor of the Independent.] Wall Street has collapsed. Its fourth biggest investment bank, the 158-year-old Lehman Brothers, has collapsed, its shiny building bought at a knock-down price by the red coats from Barclays. Merrill Lynch, the thundering herd of people's capitalism, has been bought by B

Lewis Lapham: Playing with Fire (Re: Education in America)

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.—PlutarchTo bring up the subject of education in nearly any sector of the American conversation—after dinner or before breakfast, in print and en blog, via public television or private smartphone—is to invite an argument or endure a sermon. No subject strikes closer to the bone of the democratic idea, and whether standing at the bar or seated on the lawn, all present come armed with two invincible opinions

William Rees-Mogg: No theory can stop recurrent boom and bust

[William Rees-Mogg was Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times before becoming Editor of The Times in 1967, a position he held until 1981.] Since the 19th century, economists have sought to stabilise the trade cycle and prices at the same time, but without success. In 1847, a Dr Hyde Clark wrote a paper entitled Physical Economy - a Preliminary Inquiry into the Physical Laws Governing the Periods of Famines and Panics. His paper was published in the Railway Register.

Juliet Chung: Brief history of debt

The concept of loans has existed since the early days of civilization. Since then, creditors have often come up with creative ways to try to collect their debts. Here is a look at some ancient practices. In Mesopotamia around 4000 B.C., debtors who defaulted on loans of items like food became indentured servants to creditors. "It was through a consensual relationship on the front end so it's different than slavery," says Jack Williams, a bankruptcy professor at Georgia Sta

Margaret Atwood: Debtor's Prism

The story of debt reached a historic moment this week. An outsized bubble of interlocking debt burst, leading to the downfalls of prominent companies. Loans by and to the government, financial institutions and consumers collided on an epic scale. Still, the idea of what we owe one another is an ancient theme, and this is just the latest chapter in a long cultural history. A story is a string of actions occurring over time -- one damn thing after another, as we glibly say in creative

Michael Gerson: Name That Doctrine

It is an odd thing to observe a historical debate on events about which one possesses the knowledge of a participant -- something like watching archeologists dig and sift through your living room, proposing their own interpretations of your photos and knickknacks. And it raises a disturbing prospect: That most such debates are conducted by experts possessing great confidence and little knowledge. This controversy began when ABC's Charles Gibson asked Sarah Palin to give her view of

Charles Krauthammer: History Will Judge Bush

For the past 150 years, most American war presidents -- most notably Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt -- have entered (or reentered) office knowing war was looming. Not so George W. Bush. Not so the war on terror. The 9/11 attacks literally came out of the blue. Indeed, the three presidential campaigns between the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sept. 11, 2001, were the most devoid of foreign policy debate of any in the 20th century. The commander-in-chief question that dominates our campa

Charles Krauthammer: George W. Truman

[Charles Krauthammer is a nationally syndicated columnist.] For the last 150 years, most American war presidents — most notably Lincoln, Wilson, and Roosevelt — have entered (or re-entered) office knowing war was looming. Not so George Bush. Not so the war on terror. The 9/11 attacks literally came out of the blue. Indeed, the three presidential campaigns between the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11 were the most devoid of foreign-policy debate of any in the 20th centur

Ross Douthat: Groundhog Day ... The GOP’s future looks a lot like the Democratic Party’s past

[Ross Douthat is an Atlantic senior editor.] One of the more pressing questions facing today’s staggering, flailing Republican Party, oddly enough, is which Democratic Party it most resembles: the party of 2004 or the party of 1980? For a GOP torn between retrenchment and renewal, between trying to hold the Reagan coalition together and blowing it up and starting over, the answer makes all the difference in the world. The Democrats of 2004 were mired in gloom, convince

Robert Fisk's World: Why does the US think it can win in Afghanistan?

[Robert Fisk is the Independent's award-winning Middle East correspondent.] Poor old Algerians. They are being served the same old pap from their cruel government. In 1997, the Pouvoir announced a "final victory" over their vicious Islamist enemies. On at least three occasions, I reported – not, of course, without appropriate cynicism – that the Algerian authorities believed their enemies were finally beaten because the "terrorists" were so desperate that they we