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The prophets of war | Big Brother now has a name: Lockheed Martin COMMENTARY The nation's largest defense contractor doesn't just make cluster bombs, overpriced fighter jets and ballistic missiles. Author William Hartung writes that it's also collecting information on you. 
Open government | Gibbs departure offers opportunity to fix White House relations with the press COMMENTARY The imminent departure of spokesman Robert Gibbs gives President Obama a chance to reset the relationship between the White House and the press, and to live up to his campaign promises about transparency and accountability.
What's missing? | The FCC’s exercise in ‘net futility’ COMMENTARY By avoiding any mention of reopening networks to competition, the FCC assures there will be nothing neutral about the future of American broadband.
| No enthusiasm for this war COMMENTARY If the American public isn't behind the war effort, then it won't succeed, writes William Astore. And if the war in Afghanistan isn't going to succeed, then isn't it time to withdraw?
From Nieman Reports | A call to dedicate a beat to the subject of secrecy COMMENTARY In Nieman Reports, Ted Gup cites secrecy as an instrument of government used to 'obscure process, avoid accountability, suppress dissent and concentrate power.'
From Nieman Reports | A devastating commentary on basic American news reporting COMMENTARY David Cay Johnston writes that beat reporting in America is crumbling and he cites “cheap news”--that is, stories and beats covered on the cheap--as a main reason. Johnston’s comments appear in the Winter 2010 issue of Nieman Reports, most of which is devoted to beat reporting.
| Restore the draft to provide a real referendum on wars COMMENTARY The all-volunteer military has developed into an American version of the French Foreign Legion, writes George Wilson. A national draft, with a cross-section of all Americans serving, would force leaders to think harder about fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan or elsewhere.
Talk about investment opportunities | Americans go to Vietnam (and love it), so why not Cuba? COMMENTARY Bill Claiborne and his wife recently spent some time in Vietnam; he even put together a travelogue. The trip evoked memories of Cuba -- and the sense that the American press should do a better job on why restrictions still exist, and what to expect when Castro is no longer on the scene.
It's that time of year | No more meals, only coffee comes with the AARP spiel COMMENTARY Gilbert Cranberg wasn't able to find out how much AARP gets for promoting UnitedHealthCare to older people. AARP directed him to the company's tax return, and that wasn't helpful either, except to show that in 2009, AARP reported royalty income of $656,974,323 from all sources.
Memory is short | The two biggest lies journalists shouldn't let George W. Bush get away with COMMENTARY The ex-president is desperate to make the case that he had a legitimate reason to invade Iraq, and that he had a legitimate reason to torture detainees. Are the media that let him get away with all this stuff in the first place now letting him rewrite history?
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