The Wisconsin Idea

Viewpoint

The Crafting of Obama

When Barack Obama launched his presidential bid, he decided to build a staircase, not merely a platform, thereby differing with most African-American presidential aspirants

Laura S. Washington

Dispatch

Universal Health Care for Wisconsin?

In late June, the Wisconsin state senate ratified "Healthy Wisconsin," a plan that is "the boldest and most comprehensive health care reform from any state," according to the Progressive States Network

David Moberg

Feature

In Condemnation of Opting In

Our voices are being drowned out by our peers in the supposedly independent media, like Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore, who calls Starbucks "the new record store," and music journalists like the Chicago Reader's Miles Raymer, who argued in a piece called "In Praise of Selling Out" that the music industry's decline can be "rescued by corporations that make everything but music"

Anne Elizabeth Moore

Viewpoint

Gitmo’s Last Honest Man

Abraham found that "evidence" was generally gathered by inexperienced staff with little legal or intelligence training, and he got no assurance that he was given access to all available evidence on a detainee

H. Candace Gorman

Dispatch

No Match? No Mas!

The Department of Homeland Security is trying to force employers to either fire workers whose names and Social Security numbers don't match. Widespread job loss often results when the government dons its immigration-enforcement blinders

Mischa Gaus

Dispatch

Sins of Omission

As the FAA seeks to expand air travel, is it giving concerns about aviation's effects on climate change the attention they deserve?

Megan Tady

Viewpoint

Blogs Up, Hacks Down

The appearance of seven Democratic presidential contenders at the YearlyKos convention demonstrated that the Kossacks and fellow A-listers--along with what the Liberal Blog Advertising Network calls their 3 million daily readers--are now ensconced as political players

Jessica Clark

Culture

The Kids Aren’t Alright

Daniel Brook's The Trap reminds us that inequality is bad for everyone, rich and poor

Brian Cook

Feature

Palestinians in Iraq Face a Second Exile

Threatened in Iraq, these refugees have no country to return to.

Robert S. Eshelman