From The Nation, Thom Hartmann on cracking the code: How can the left be as adept as the right-wing spin machine at communicating its political agenda? Learn how to use the tools; Juan Cole on Islam, politicized: How fearmongering GOP presidential candidates are demonizing Muslims and Islam. Why are Democrats so slow to challenge their false claims of "Islamofascism"?; and Katha Pollitt on David Horowitz as a feminist: The oppression of Muslim women is a major theme among the Islamofascistly aware — if only they felt the same about other women on earth; a special section on the US and the world: The 2008 election, more than any election in decades, will turn on questions of foreign policy and national security; the time is right for a Great Debate on America's purpose and place in the world; candidates should avoid the toughness trap and rethink their commitment to outmoded security tools and veiled nuclear threats against nonnuclear states; neither political party seems ready to face the fundamental economic, environmental and geopolitical changes; why we need international law: It's time to undo the damage and reaffirm America's historical commitment to international law; and articles on how to deal with the Middle East, Muslim extremism, Iran, and Hamas and Hezbollah; and time to choose: Eight commentators to make their best cases for their chosen Democratic contenders.
