Featured Commentary
Obama Legacy: A Parallel Justice System?
President Obama confirmed Wednesday that he plans to keep the controversial military commissions alive.
CIA Report Suggests Broad Probe of Interrogation Policy Needed
Newly appointed investigator may find it impossible — or at least very difficult — to conduct a thorough and ethical investigation that stays within those narrow bounds.
Obama May Seek Authority Outlined by Mukasey
It’s been one year since then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey proposed that Congress pass legislation declaring a new, expanded war with al-Qaeda and the Taliban — thereby granting the president the authority to detain indefinitely members of those groups anywhere in the world.
Sotomayor Hearing Pits ‘Bias’ Against ‘Empathy’
Republicans and Democrats both see code in key words.
School of Hock
A growing number of college grads are defaulting on their student loans as the economy worsens.
Holder Affirms Rule of Law, Won’t Say How He’ll Enforce It
Attorney General Eric Holder artfully skirts Bush-era legal problems facing the Department of Justice.
Prepaid ‘Cash Cards’ a Pricey Way to Swipe
Feeling burned by bank overdraft fees of $30 or more, or by credit-card interest rates that can top 25 percent, a growing number of consumers are turning to prepaid, reloadable “cash cards.”
Is Hope for Homeowners Hopeless?
A plan designed to help 400,000 homeowners modify their mortgage terms has only helped 25 borrowers.
Obama’s Openness v. CIA Secrecy
Obama’s executive order strengthening the Freedom of Information Act, issued on his second day in office, signaled his intent to open up the federal government to greater public accountability. The harder part will come in delivering results, especially at the CIA.
Faith and the Uniform
Two atheistic groups and a lawsuit call on Washington to end its sanction of religion in the military. Critics decry this as an attack on a venerable tradition. But the blend of martial and spiritual in the armed forces is largely the residue of the fight again communism in the late 1940s and 1950s. What will the Obama administration do?
Blogroll
- The Huffington Post
- Talking Points Memo
- TPMMuckraker
- Pro Publica
- The Raw Story
- The Plum Line
- Matthew Yglesias
- Small Wars Journal
- Abu Muqawama
- FiveThirtyEight
- Daily Kos
- Open Left
- Think Progress
- Real Clear Politics
- The Big Picture
- Consumerist
- Andrew Sullivan
- Eschaton
- Crooks and Liars
- Grist
- Capital Eye
- Taxpayers for Common Sense
- Open Congress
- Ben Smith
- Michael Calderone
- Political Animal

