Charles Ferguson has made a documentary that must be seen if you want to understand why the same people who let the housing bubble and the 2008 financial meltdown happen are still in charge. But if you can’t go out and see Inside Job right away (it opened in New York and Los Angeles Friday), read Ferguson’s article, “Larry Summers and the Subversion of Economics,” summarizing his case in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Hey, all you Bush haters!

Well, not all of you, just those of you who also think that Obama can do no wrong.

You know who you are. Come a little closer, I’ve got something to tell you.

Of late, the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee has been investigating the booming multi-billion dollar for-profit college industry — think Kaplan University or DeVry for example. What it has found thus far is not pretty.

Last night’s Oval Office oratory: Barack Obama channeling Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush

Obama’s speech last night left no doubt that he has forsaken his base on the left (or is taking us for granted), and is instead working to please the moderate Democrats and independents who are in danger of being lost back to the Republicans. How else do you explain his continued drift to the center-right?

Fear. It’s a powerful tool, and has often been misused throughout history, and especially in the recent history of the United States. It was used to prevent John Kerry from becoming president, used to obstruct the current administration, and now in an election season it’s used to move conservative voters by way of a manufactured controversy over the Cordoba House mosque. Protecting our freedoms, indeed.

By

Marshall Auerback

Hint: it’s not Republicans.

Social Security remains one of the greatest achievements of the Democratic Party since its creation 75 years ago. Although Republicans have historically fulminated against the program (Ronald Reagan once likened it as something akin to “socialism”), they have actually made little headway in touching this sacred “third rail” in American politics. President Bush pushed for partial privatization of the program in 2005, but the proposal gained no policy traction (even within his own party) because Social Security continues to be hugely popular with American voters. It’s a universal program that benefits all Americans, not a government handout to a few privileged corporations.

BBC is reporting Thursday that Iraq’s highest ranking army officer has said that his country is not ready to take responsibility for its own security.

It should be kept in mind that the myth of training Iraqi forces to take over their own security is a product of General David Petraeus’ long history of spinning the media.

Are these mind-numbing numbers the product of misleading rhetoric from the right, or just pure and simple ignorance, or both? What’s on your mind tonight?

Here’s an opportunity for a failed President to achieve some measure of redemption.