From The American Prospect, a belief in American pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mythology lies at the heart of conservative attacks on the 99 percent; and Robert Kuttner on how "we are the 99 percent" has the virtue of being true as well as mobilizing. Post-Wobegon politics: Benjamin J. Dueholm on Michele Bachmann and the moral recession. Soon voters must decide if Romney is also a man of principle — the facts suggest he is. David Sesions on why evangelicals forgive (Republican) sex scandals. The Occupy Movement's “99 percent” misrepresents global inequality — in fact, the top 20 percent of Americans are part of the world’s richest 1 percent. From New Left Review, Dylan Riley on a cooler look at Tony Judt. Want to attack a policy or proposal without looking like a bad guy? Labeling those behind it as "extreme" or "radical" should do the trick. A look at 5 terrible ideas that solved huge global problems. John Sides on Tea Party racism: Some experimental evidence. Trial of the Will: Reviewing familiar principles and maxims in the face of mortal illness, Christopher Hitchens has found one of them increasingly ridiculous: “Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” Intellectuals and Politics: Good politicians don't need to be intellectuals, but they should at least have intellectual lives. A review of Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back by Robert Levine. An excerpt from Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State by Dana Priest and William M Arkin. A faltering economy explains much of the job shortage in America, but advancing technology has sharply magnified the effect, more so than is generally understood. A review of The Moral Brain: Essays on the Evolutionary and Neuroscientific Aspects of Morality.
