A voter facing a choice in the distant future is less interested in particular plans and policies than in broad, abstract themes. It is only as the election gets closer do voters start paying attention to details of the candidate's positions on issues of importance to them. [...more]
Was one of the youngest prisoners at Guantánamo rushed to court by the Bush administration for political reasons? [...more]
Hidden behind the appearance of objectivity is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used military analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found. [...more]
Television news audiences are divided along party lines like never before, according to a new University of Georgia study that warns the trend may have damaging consequences for political discourse and democracy in America. [...more]
A lot of people come to the climate change issue as environmentalists. Environmentalism is diverse, but I would say that a common denominator for environmentalists is that they are concerned with the negative impact of human activity on the ecosystems that sustain life on the planet and want to make changes that reduce that negative impact — or have no impact or positive impact. But having agreed on this, there are many different views within environmentalism. [...more]
With an occupying army waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with military bases and corporate bullying in every part of the world, there is hardly a question any more of the existence of an American Empire. Indeed, the once fervent denials have turned into a boastful, unashamed embrace of the idea. [...more]
This time it's called ‘politics'. Did you ever get to stop being a child - at least in the eyes of the authorities? All of us have the buttons to be pushed: our insecurity; our desire to be looked after; our fear of the unknown; our desire to scapegoat the kid down the block; our laziness that says ‘just tell me what to do, what to think' - buttons aplenty for the politics of manipulation. Oh my, when do I finally get to decide for myself? [...more]