Friday’s Jobs Report and the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon Debacle

Robert Reich / Truthdig Apr 5, 2014 What does the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon decision this week have to do with Friday's jobs report, showing 192,000 new jobs for March? Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

McCutcheon and the Vicious Cycle of Concentrated Wealth and Political Power

Robert Reich / Truthdig Apr 5, 2014 If wealth and income weren’t already so concentrated in the hands of a few, the shameful McCutcheon decision by the five Republican appointees to the Supreme Court wouldn’t be as dangerous. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Torture ‘Was the Last Straw for Me,’ CIA Rebel Ray McGovern Says

Staff / Truthdig Mar 14, 2014 This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Sen. Dianne Feinstein picks a fight with the CIA on spying and torture, Fukushima turns 3, how to protect yourself from private and government surveillance, and the handful of American families who have all the power. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

By the Way, Your Home Is On Fire

By Rebecca Solnit, TomDispatch Mar 13, 2014 People in power and bureaucrats seem exceptionally obtuse when it comes to recognizing that the world has changed and the old rules no longer apply. Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

A New World Order?

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch Mar 3, 2014 Increasingly, the unitary status of states is being called into question. Civil war, violence, and internecine struggles of various sorts are visibly on the rise. In many cases, state power seems to be draining away to no other state’s gain. So here’s one question: Where exactly is power located on our planet right now? Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

The Specter of Authoritarianism and the Politics of the ‘Deep State’

By Henry A. Giroux, Ragazine Mar 2, 2014 I am not quite sure what to say about Mike Lofgren’s essay published at Moyers & Company, because while I agree with much of it in pointing to the anti-democratic tendencies undermining democracy in the U.S., I find the language too constrained and the absences too disturbing. Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

The Heart of Francis’ Mission

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Dec 3, 2013 Christianity has often been used over the centuries to prop up the powerful. But from the beginning, the Christian message has been subversive of political systems, judgmental toward those at the top, and demanding of all who take it seriously. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Two Centers of Unaccountable Power in America and Their Consequences

Robert Reich / Truthdig Jun 16, 2013 There are two great centers of unaccountable power in the American political-economic system today -- places where decisions that significantly affect large numbers of Americans are made in secret, and are unchecked either by effective democratic oversight or by market competition. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Feast of Fools

By Lewis H. Lapham, TomDispatch Sep 21, 2012 The campaigns don’t favor the voters with the gratitude and respect owed to their standing as valuable citizens participating in making such a thing as a common good. They stay on message with their parsing of democracy as the ancient Greek name for the American Express card. Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

Naomi Wolf on Kate Middleton Topless, Pussy Riot, and the Sexualized Female Body

Tracy Bloom / Truthdig Sep 20, 2012 According to the author of "Vagina: A New Biography," we are undergoing an "unprecedented struggle" among women, their bodies and sexuality. Citing recent examples including the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, the frenzy over "virginity tests" in Egypt and recent efforts in the U.S. to legislate the female body, Wolf argues that female sexuality is being targeted around the world. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Robert Caro, LBJ and the Pursuit of Power

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 12, 2012 Robert Caro has so far spent 36 years writing the saga of Lyndon Johnson -- more time than the ambitious Texan spent climbing from Congress to the White House. Caro just released his fourth installment, “The Passage of Power,” which chronicles Johnson’s exit from a strong position in the Senate into the relative powerlessness of the vice presidency. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Chris Hedges in Times Square

BLANK Oct 18, 2011 Occupy TVNY has this interview with Chris Hedges, who, during the major global protests on Saturday, compared Occupy Wall Street to the other movements he's covered around the world, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )