The Islamophobe Fringe

The Islamophobe Fringe

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula is a convicted conman. He knows almost nothing about Islam and even less about filmmaking. And yet, thanks to the power of the Internet and the tense relationship between the West and Islam, Nakoula has generated a major international scandal...
Romney’s Losing Bid to Win the Latino Vote

Romney’s Losing Bid to Win the Latino Vote

When I watched Mitt Romney on a candidates forum on Univision, the country’s largest Spanish-language TV network, something about him looked different. He actually looked browner. At first I figured it was my imagination, but soon everyone from Washington Post...
Armed with Irony

Armed with Irony

If irony is a crucial ingredient for comedy, the House of Representatives can be a laugh riot. Lately, there’s been some serious silliness about sequestration and Pentagon spending. In September, the House took up a bill to fund the government for another six...
A Vanishing Act for Good Jobs

A Vanishing Act for Good Jobs

Ashley Brown wants to be a bank teller. When I met her this past spring, the 26-year old single mother was cold-calling banks and credit unions, looking for one that might hire her. So far, she’d had one interview and a lot of unfriendly brush-offs. No offers....
Baseball Escapism

Baseball Escapism

Seated in the upper deck at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, during a Giants-Rockies game, you wouldn’t know millions of Americans are underwater and unemployed, or that the 2012 elections were less than two months away. The large man seated next to me cups...