There was a lot of early speculation that the Obama presidency would be another FDR presidency in which the depth of the economic recession would lead to programs that would offer the public a chance to partake of government largesse in a time of great n… more »

I recently published a piece for LRB on Pynchon. Frank Kermode always wrote well in those pages and had a breadth of interests that I always found admirable. He was one of those great essayists that use literature as a jumping off point for his texts...H… more »

The outcry on the Right continues to be anti-government, even when programs like Medicare and Social Security help bring dignity to folks who have worked and paid into the systems for decades. These programs not only work, but they are a necessary part o… more »

The heart that matters keeps us coming back for more. The light that freed us from all this extravagant darkness is so much our own and I for one am proud to keep the intact principles of our needy condition alive. We have tried to find our way. Nobody p… more »

Amnesia is setting in for much of the country as the mid-term elections near. Things have been accomplished and it is high time for Democrats to stand up and be heard. There is some maneuvering to be done and accomplishments to be spoken of...This Sunday… more »

Frank Rich in current New York Review of Books, in a review of a book by Alter on Obama's situation so far...Seems pretty fair, lots of caveats...Worth the read... Obama may have entered the White House with the intention of assembling a Lincolnesque… more »

WITHER AGON   Come withering mayhem, bunch my circuitry in ruin; You know my weakness                     for disintegration-- not just the cervical discs, but the eavesdropping of  evermore the insult of age & duplicity, the powerl… more »

Bob Herbert in NY Times on the awful cost of these prolonged fiascos called wars in the mideast. Suicide, failure, no end in sight, and the fools keep pushing ahead. As if there is not enough that has gone tragically wrong in this era of endless warf… more »

For the past few months, we have heard powerful, passionate arguments about the need to cut America's massive budget deficit. Republican senators have claimed that we are in danger of permanently crippling the economy. Conservative economists and pundits… more »