Eric Alterman's Blog, page 20

Up Against the Wall (Street)

Eric Alterman

Alterman's guide to gift-giving and Reed on media's not-so-safety net: fact-checking. 

Obama's Weinergate Misstep

President Obama's call for Anthony Weiner to resign may have been unavoidable, but it kept what has to be history's least sexually satisfying sex scandal in the headlines for another day-and it won't push the congressman out the door. After all, he's...

Weiner's Well-Timed Rehab

The embattled New York congressman announced he was taking a leave of absence to deal with his junk mail problem. Eric Alterman on how the move just might save his career.
Will Anthony Weiner become the first politician in American history to be...

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the French Anti-Semitism Myth

Although Dominique Strauss-Kahn fits the stereotype of rich, leftist, Jewish banker preying on the poor and getting ethnic support from notable friends, there have been few anti-Jewish attacks on him in France, showing that claims of an anti-Semitism...

Obama's Awful '70s Show Echoes Jimmy Carter

Gas prices are heading toward $5, single-family home sales are at a low-and with President Obama ignoring his base like Jimmy Carter did, he could end up being another one-term president, Eric Alterman writes.
Can You Spell...

Obama's Savvy Deficit Play

The president is off selling his new economic message after shocking liberals with a strong rhetorical budget speech. But he's still playing in Republican territory, warns Eric Alterman-a strategy that could save him in 2012 but doom his party.
Barack...

Obama's Next Budget Deal Cave-In

After yielding to Tea Party demands for billions in budget cuts to stave off a shutdown, the president appears ready to cave in on the debt ceiling and spending cuts that would hurt the poor and middle class. It is time for Obama to come out punching,...

Obama's Ballsy DNC Choice

Debbie Wasserman Schultz has no statewide, let alone national, experience. But as a tough-talking liberal who can work with Michele Bachmann, she might just be what the Dems need.
The new head of the Democratic National Committee is Florida...

Stop Taking Bachmann Seriously!

As Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann flirts with the possibility of a presidential run, Eric Alterman spanks the media for paying so much attention to such a flawed candidate.
Michele Bachmann is "reportedly" ready to form a presidential...

Anti-Semitic Celebrity Meltdowns

Charlie Sheen, John Galliano, and Julian Assange are all being accused of attacking Jews. Eric Alterman reports on the fallout-and why the Chosen People should not be shaking in their boots.
As any political organization can tell you, the most...