How something so right had to go so wrong The last time Republicans won a presidential election it was 2004. George W. Bush prevailed by trumpeting his ability to keep us safe, despite the 9/11 attacks and the failing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while his domestic agenda revolved around supporting “traditional marriage” and immigration reform. Deep in his campaign […]

Robert D. Putnam wants to have a debate without starting an argument. And he may succeed. His new book Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis succeeds in displaying the kind of canniness that makes the Harvard professor a favorite of both President Obama and Jeb Bush. To maintain the kind of equanimity that keeps your work at the heart of […]

From Watergate to watering down wages: How Reagan sold America on conservatism NOTE: The contest has now ended. Misunderestimating conservatives can be hazardous to your middle class. In 1973, Ronald Reagan’s glib optimism and refusal to acknowledge the rank criminality of the Watergate scandal made it easy for liberals to dismiss his appeal. Less than eight years later, he was […]

Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it

This past week, journalist Lee Fang’s new book The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right was released. Fang is a reporting fellow with the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute and a contributing writer at The Nation and the book represents the culmination of several years of researching and writing about the intersection of conservative politics with corporate influence on our government. The book is, at its core, a history book, showing us how America arrived at a place where a relatively small number of wealthy individuals and corporate entities have shaped the national dialog, our elections, national policy, and even the laws of our land to their own benefit, privatizing wealth while socializing risk.

Click through for my review of this important new book.