The ability of the 1 percent to buy politicians and regulators is nothing new in American politics - just as inequality has been a permanent part of our economic system. This is true of virtually all political and economic systems.

Ironically, tendency to ignore inconvenient facts and unwelcome evidence is actually President Reagan's true legacy, as I noted in 'The Nation' back in 2000, before the current right-wing mania for President Reagan gained its full force.

We live in a media world simultaneously obsessed with technology and personality.

Over one in five American children is living in poverty, and the number is rising.

As with almost every significant aspect of the Bush presidency, its handling of 9/11 was a catastrophe from start to finish.

For the past eight years, the right has been better at working the refs. Now the left is learning how to play the game.

Trends in circulation and advertising - the rise of the Internet, which has made the daily newspaper look slow and unresponsive; the advent of Craigslist, which is wiping out classified advertising-have created a palpable sense of doom.