Health Care and the New Civility

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Jan 17, 2011 President Obama's call for "a more civil and honest public discourse" will get its first test much sooner than we expected. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Fox News Reports No Link Between Matches, Gasoline and Fire

Andy Borowitz / Truthdig Jan 17, 2011 "Gasoline and matches don't start fires," said Fox host Glenn Beck. "People start fires." Mr. Beck went on to say that there was no link between "oxygen, hydrogen and water." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Words That Don’t Heal

Ruth Marcus / Truthdig Jan 13, 2011 Blood libel is a term with a specific and terrible history. It refers to the scurrilous accusation that Jews kidnapped and murdered Christian children to use their blood to prepare Passover matzo. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

What Is the Meaning of This ‘Blood Libel’?

Staff / Truthdig Jan 13, 2011 Wouldn't you know it -- the Sarah Palin Catchphrase Generator clicked, whirred and spat out another viscerally tinged and menacing two-word combination to righteously apply to her political opponents. This week's winner: "blood libel." But what does it mean? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Right Pushes Back About Rhetoric’s Role in Arizona Shooting

Staff / Truthdig Jan 12, 2011 Is it wrong to make connections between the charged political climate in the U.S., stoked by divisive rhetoric, and the deadly shooting last weekend in Arizona? Some right-leaning politicians and pundits are saying so. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Arizona Shooting, as Seen From Europe

Staff / Truthdig Jan 11, 2011 The Christian Science Monitor took a brief survey Monday of the coverage of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting from across the Atlantic, browsing British, French, German and Dutch publications to see how the violence and its aftermath registered from their points of view. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

You Say Militant, I Say Terrorist

Staff / Truthdig Jul 14, 2010 What's in a name? Well, quite a bit, according to the newly crowned military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, as he pushes to designate a group of militants in Pakistan as "terrorists." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama Channels Bush in Speech on Immigration

Staff / Truthdig Jul 4, 2010 President Obama's immigration speech on Thursday, according to a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, bore an extraordinary similarity to the one delivered by his predecessor back in 2006. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Rhetoric of Health Care Misinformation

BLANK Aug 11, 2009 What is it about chain e-mails that makes potentially reasonable people who might even be wary of believing everything they read -- at least when it comes to stories generated by media outlets -- so gullible and so willing to latch on to hyperbolic distortions and ideologically driven misinformation campaigns? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Age of Paine

Scott Tucker / Truthdig Jul 3, 2009 “That filthy little atheist,” as Thomas Paine was called by Theodore Roosevelt, has few monuments dedicated to his memory. Building a bronze and marble monument to Paine will never revive the republic, but his words still carry an electric current of freedom. His intellectual and political energy is always available for rediscovery. Dig deeper ( 32 Min. Read )

The Truth Alone Will Not Set You Free

Chris Hedges / Truthdig Jun 29, 2009 The modern world, as Kafka predicted, has become a world where lies become true. And facts alone will be powerless to thwart the mendacity spun out through billions of dollars in corporate advertising, lobbying and control of traditional sources of information. The lines between artists, social activists and journalists have to be erased. Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

R.I.P. Offshore Drilling Ban

Staff / Truthdig Sep 24, 2008 Congressional Democrats seemed to have turned in their spine -- yet again -- Tuesday when they announced they would allow the 26-year-old ban on offshore drilling to expire, a resounding sellout to the rhetoric of the McCain campaign and a reactionary move aimed at accommodating the crisis-ridden financial markets. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )