Latest From Our Bloggers

You may differ on the merits with the supporters of the District of Columbia's gun ban, who were handed a major defeat by the Supreme Court on Thursday. But progressives can't deny this: The conservative bloc on the court is a rogue band of ideological thugs who care less about strict constructionism and all of the other conservative legal buzzwords they use, but are all about furthering a conservative political agenda. more »

The Bush administration's gross abuse of presidential power demands that we insist on the next president reversing the damage done to the constitutional principle of separation of powers. more »

Ruling impeachment off the table hasn't hurt congressional Democrats politically. But the constitutional implications are far more disturbing. According to the leading case on presidential powers, if Bush's extreme assertions of power are not challenged by the Congress, they end up not simply creating new law, they could end up rewriting the Constitution itself. more »

As of this election year, the vast and rising tide of Millennials is arriving in numbers big enough to swamp the Boomers and set the whole American conversation on a whole new heading. And it is this, it can be argued, is what the Barack-versus-Hillary showdown was really all about. more »

I can only think of one moment in my memory that compares to this. It was when I stood in front of my television and watched the Berlin wall come down, live on CNN. I'm not yet sure that another wall has come down now. But there's an opening now. It was there before, but it's much, much wider now. Through it, we can just see the other side, and even have more hope of reaching it. more »

At the upcoming Clinton-Obama debate in Philadelphia, there is only one thing the American public wants to hear less than another policy wonk discussion—that would be more personal sniping over race, patriotism or honesty. So, instead, here are a few things for Katie, Hillary and Barack to kick around. more »

Our friend Bill Moyers is asking an interesting question: “What’s the one book you wish the winning presidential candidate would take to the White House?” more »

Earlier this morning, I was on NPR's Bryant Park Project discussing the meaning of the Iowa results, along with Erick Erickson of Red State. Erick acknowledged the deep dislike of Huckabee among conservative bloggers, and general disappointment with the GOP field. While I observed the broad agreement on economic populist policy and change in foreign policy among Democrats, independents and some Republican voters shown in the Iowa results.

You can listen to the segment here.

In my new nationally syndicated column out today, I explore the root cause of America's anger at our federal government and the growing embrace of conspiracy theories - trends displayed in recent Scripps Howard/Ohio University studies. It is not just a reaction to fear in the age of terrorism, but is a more fundamental crisis of confidence in our public institutions.

Certainly, some of the conspiracy theories out there are offensive, inaccurate and should be ignored. However, the growth of conspiracy theories as a phenomenon should not be ignored, because they represent something deeper - a distrust of a government. This distrust, though it can go in crazy directions, is not crazy unto itself. In fact, it is quite rational. After all, everywhere we look, we see proof that our government actively conspires against the public.

The most pristine example, as I say in the column, was the recent behavior by the Federal Communications Commission. more »

As I blogged earlier, tomorrow offers a rare event: The Heartland Presidential Forum, featuring real people asking candidates questions about real issues that affect working families and impoverished Americans.

If you can't be in Des Moines at 1:30 PM CT, you can watch the live webcast at movementvisionlab.org, and cablecast on C-Span.