Search Results for: obama

The New York Times Book Review asked a few poets and novelists which books they would recommend for the three presidential candidates. I think my favorite suggestions are those given by Lorrie Moore:

For Obama: “The Portrait of a Lady,” by Henry James. A virtuous orphan is plotted against by a charming, ruthless couple the orphan once trusted and admired.

For Clinton: “Macbeth,” by William Shakespeare. The timeless tale of how untethered ambition and early predictions may carry a large price tag.

For McCain: “Tales From the Brothers Grimm.” In case more are needed.

Meanwhile, Gore Vidal contributes a typically Vidalian recommendation: “I can only answer in the negative: I want them not to read The New York Times, while subscribing to The Financial Times.”

On Saturday I had an op-ed in The Boston Globe about the politics of fear in the current presidential election. Here’s how it opens:

A FEW weeks ago, I received an e-mail with the subject line: “Excited about Barack Obama? Read this.”

The e-mail contained a copy of a Jan. 22 Senate memo, signed by the presidential candidate, in which he asked the American ambassador to the United Nations to “ensure that the Security Council issue no statement and pass no resolution” about the situation in Gaza unless it included a full condemnation of Hamas.

At the time the memo was sent, Gaza had been closed by Israeli forces for several days, its only power plant had ceased operating, and its 1.5 million Palestinian inhabitants had little or no access to food. The e-mail was sent to hundreds of Arab- and Muslim-Americans, and it ended with a bold, highlighted line: “Think again before you cast your vote for another AIPAC puppet,” referring to the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee.

You can read the rest of the piece here.

I received a copy of Start Making Sense a couple of weeks ago in the mail, and figured it would make for a nice giveaway. It’s an anthology of essays about how liberals can “turn the lessons of election 2004 into winning progressive politics.” Contributors include Howard Dean, Arianna Huffington, George Lakoff, Amy Goodman, Barbara Ehrenreich, Barack Obama, and Markos Moulitsakis Zuniga (a.k.a. Daily Kos).

You know the rules. First person to email me at llalami at yahoo dot com with the subject line “start making sense” will get a copy in the mail.

Update: The winner is Stephen S. from Los Angeles.