What’s Wrong with Susan Rice’s Tweets

U.S. condemns bloodshed in Syria as it funds violent crackdown in Bahrain

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice could barely contain her outrage in a series of tweets following China and Russia’s veto of a Security Council resolution condemning Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s use of force against protestors:

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The fallacy of Obama’s ‘Original Sin’

Frank Rich has reemerged.

The piece, which has been online for about a week, is an engrossing, if depressing, read. The new length suits his style, with its slight embellishment and appreciation for narrative from his days as a theater critic for the Times. (more…)

The progressive path

This month, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan released his “Path to Prosperity,” or proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2012, to much fanfare and media crooning. Largely lost in the partisan shuffle that ensued are three crucial points about the proposal: it does not meaningfully cut the deficit for decades, many factual assertions in the plan are based on a shockingly disingenuous report by the Heritage Foundation, and the Ryan’s budget would all but eliminate the historical guarantee of health care access in old age. (more…)

All schools left behind

How progressives can refocus the debate on education reform

A big deadline for legislative action is looming in American education, and hardly anyone seems to notice.

In testimony before Congress, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned that if the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—commonly known as No Child Left Behind—was not reformed and signed into law by the fall, as many as 82 percent of the nation’s schools could be labeled as “failing” under the current act’s standards.

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Thousands rally against wars in NYC

Brief report from Cole Stangler, who attended the April 10 rally in Manhattan.

The anti-war movement—a force to be reckoned with just years ago—has been in a sad state of disrepair ever since President Obama took office in January 2009. While Saturday’s action in New York City—a rally in Union Square followed by a march to another rally in Foley Square—didn’t quite bring out the kind of numbers seen in the Bush years, the demonstration was nonetheless a step in the right direction for a movement that is needed more than ever. Amid the backdrop of deeply regressive budget cuts at home, our government continues to pour money into the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, supplies Israel with military aid, and now funds a new intervention in Libya. This is unacceptable, and an anti-war movement needs to make that clear. Chants I heard at the demonstration like “How to solve the deficit? End the wars, tax the rich!” are part of that coherent and powerful discourse that should resonate with the broader public in the coming months. (more…)