The New Republic

A DSCC fund-raising plea from Bill Clinton just landed in my inbox, with this section of text highlighted: But if we falter - if we hesitate - if we blink - in the face of Republican fear-mongering and misinformation, we'll have not only lost our momentum; we could lose the movement.  Hmmm. Bold-faced and italicized. Could the ex-POTUS be having a little fun with Sarah Palin's no-blinking leadership philosophy? READ MORE >>

Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter for Mississippi's Clarion-Ledger newsppaper, is the recipient of one of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius grants." If you're not familiar with Mitchell or his work, this 2005 American Journalism Review article about him is a good place to start. READ MORE >>

David Roth is a writer living in New York. READ MORE >>

Yesterday I wrote about the Republican strategy of unabated opposition to health care reform. Thinking about it some more, I really wonder if the Republican party is making a long-term policy blunder here. READ MORE >>

Last week, Taliban leader Mullah Omar issued a taunting statement warning America about its prospects in Afghanistan. Here's a choice excerpt: READ MORE >>

Independent investment brokerage CLSA (short for Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia) is paying Sarah Palin to deliver the keynote address at its 16th Investors' Forum in Hong Kong tomorrow. CNN notes that she will speak about "governance, economics, and current events in the United States and Asia." This strikes me as riotous on two levels: 1. Someone is actually giving Palin money to talk to 1,000 or so international investors about global economics and what's going on in Asia. READ MORE >>

A good ProPublica investigative article on Blue Dog Democrat Mike Ross's business dealings with a pharmacy chain: Ross sold the real estate in Prescott, Ark., to USA Drug for $420,000 -- an eye-popping number for real estate in the tiny train and lumber town about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock. READ MORE >>

This is the sort of thing that's awfully hard to explain to the American people: READ MORE >>

The Only Way Obama Can Pull His Presidency Back From the Brink, by John B. Judis Is Our President a Protectionist?, by Noam Scheiber READ MORE >>

President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have announced a dramatically-altered approach to deploying U.S. missile defenses. Click through this slideshow for a look at the current deployment of our missile defense systems, and how they'll change. READ MORE >>