Obama Tells Senate Dems to Step Out of the ‘Echo Chamber’ (Update: Video)

Staff / Truthdig Feb 4, 2010 President Barack Obama gave Senate Democrats a pep talk Wednesday, rallying the battle-fatigued and dispirited among them by reminding of the need to "finish the job" concerning health care and financial reform and recommending that they refrain from taking their cues from cable TV news and the blogosphere. Instead, Obama said, they would do well to get out and talk to ordinary Americans. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Rotten Minds, Shriveled Hearts and Human Souls

Fred Branfman / Truthdig Feb 2, 2010 Should progressives hold themselves to a higher standard than the name-calling and intellectual violence that conservative bloggers routinely engage in? Much could rest on the answer to this question. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Get Ready for the GOP’s New Talking Points

Staff / Truthdig Feb 2, 2010 Certain vigilant operatives from the blogosphere have caught wind of some key words and phrases that we might soon be hearing on Fox News, as Republican pollster and memo composer Frank Luntz has let fly with his latest manifesto on how to spin the news about happenings on Capitol Hill to the GOP's advantage. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Tucker Carlson Takes to the Web

Staff / Truthdig Jan 12, 2010 Giving the Drudge Report and Free Republic a little competition in the conservative Web space, former CNN pundit (see: "Crossfire") and bow-tie enthusiast Tucker Carlson has launched his own site, the Daily Caller. That's "the DC" for short -- snappy, Mr. Carlson! Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

What the Tweet

Staff / Truthdig Aug 22, 2009 Twitter, the superstar microblogging service that media outlets like CNN are flocking to as they struggle for Web credibility, has hit a roadblock in its steady march to global popularity. A company attempt to trademark the word tweet, describing an individual blog post, has been rejected by the U.S. patent office. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Iran’s Protest Goes Viral

Staff / Truthdig Jun 16, 2009 Iranian officials have cut off key communication conduits within the country and barred access to foreign news broadcasts as election protests rage on. But protesters have found ways to get information by other means: They have turned to social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘High-End Journalism Is Dying in America’

Staff / Truthdig May 7, 2009 Warning of the potential dangers of citizen journalism while correcting misconceptions on the grand old days of the "family-owned" newspaper model, David Simon, creator of HBO’s “The Wire” and a former reporter at the Baltimore Sun, testified Wednesday at a Senate hearing on the future of journalism. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

White House All Atwitter

Staff / Truthdig May 2, 2009 It's not entirely clear how the White House joining the cyber-ranks of MySpace, Facebook and Twitter will serve to make the American government more "transparent" and "efficient," but perhaps micro-blogging will save our democracy or maybe we'll get to hear about what Joe Biden had for lunch. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Vote for Truthdig

Staff / Truthdig Jan 6, 2009 It's awards season, and we need your help Truthdig is a 2008 Weblog Awards finalist in two categories: Best Political Coverage and Best Liberal Blog Show your support by voting here and here Polls close Jan 13, and you can vote once every day in each category Thanks, as always, for your support. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Obama Standard

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Nov 3, 2008 A good politician triumphs by adapting to the times and taking advantage of opportunities as they come. A great politician anticipates openings others don't see and creates possibilities that were not there before. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Sarah Zamboni Clears the Ice

Ellen Goodman / Truthdig Sep 11, 2008 Let us remember that Republicans had long targeted working mothers as the centerpiece of the culture wars. Now their heroine is the in-your-face governor who once said: "To any critics who say a woman can't think and work and carry a baby at the same time, I'd just like to escort that Neanderthal back to the cave." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

McCain Campaign Revamped by Rove Protégé

Staff / Truthdig Sep 7, 2008 "Fun Steve is dead" was the announcement that Steve Schmidt, the McCain campaign adviser who The New York Times notes "worked closely with Karl Rove" in 2002 and 2004, made to his team at a particularly low moment last summer. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the bombastic tactics Team McCain has since adopted can be traced to the demise of "Fun Steve." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )