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Tinfoil hats? What tinfoil hats? | The Iowa Caucuses -- too ingrained to fail? COMMENTARY What with the religious right's takeover of Republican politics in Iowa and other oddities, reasonable observers might expect the Iowa GOP caucuses to just decline and disappear. But then, what would candidates do before New Hampshire? And what would happen to those political writers in the Hawkeye State and those who love going to it? 
Reporting the endgame | Why stay in Afghanistan if the reasons for being there no longer exist? COMMENTARY The core assumption for having U.S. troops in Afghanistan is that by keeping al Qaeda out, we block a national security threat to America. It's time the press challenged that assumption because it is very, very vulnerable -- and likely flat-out wrong, as John Hanrahan reports in an interview with Paul Pillar, a leading intelligence community expert. This is the first in a new Nieman Watchdog series, 'Reporting the endgame.'
Ryan's folly | The House GOP's Medicare plan: Spending $25 trillion to save $5 trillion COMMENTARY David Cay Johnston, citing experts and his own analysis, says Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the Republicans' budget designer, is 'deceptive by omission.' Ryan's plan would replace Medicare by having citizens pay greater and greater amounts out of their own pockets or do without treatment.
Follow the money | If the Tea Party wins, who benefits? Not its members. COMMENTARY Martin Lobel holds that the Tea Party rank and file, knowingly or not, are led around by the rich and powerful. That in the name of reform, their plans would make things worse, not better for most Americans, including themselves. That right-wing think tanks are calling the shots, and the press is pretty much missing the story.
| Nieman Foundation calls for release of a reporter in Syria COMMENTARY Dorothy Parvaz, a 2009 Nieman Fellow now with al Jazeera, was taken prisoner by the Syrian goverment on arrival April 29th and hasn't been heard from since.
A Nieman Watchdog interview | Stiglitz’s view of the economy and how to fix it COMMENTARY| May 124, 2011 The Nobel laureate rejects GOP austerity proposals, offers wideranging plans to reduce the deficit, put people back to work, and halt growing economic inequality. Step No. 1 would be to increase revenues.
| In Australia, after bin Laden COMMENTARY| May 123, 2011 A generally low-key reaction to the jihadist's death. And, as in the U.S., a push in some quarters for more dialogue on pulling out of Afghanistan -- but not among the nation's top leaders. Aussies make up the largest non-NATO contingent in Afghanistan, about 1,500 troops.
Stay in Washington, Mr. Ryan | How the press aids and abets the GOP attack on the middle class COMMENTARY Henry Banta writes that the media pay excessive attention and give excessive credibility to the constant drumbeat of propaganda on the budget and debt streaming from those who have the most to lose if the middle class tries to get back some of what has been taken from it.
Letter from Austin | Calling on God to bring some rain to Texas COMMENTARY Gov. Rick Perry proclaimed Easter weekend as Days of Prayer for Rain to help put out massive wildfires in many areas of the state. Some in the state prayed the governor would stop posturing for the Tea Party and do things within his own power for schools and nursing homes that face disastrous budget cuts.
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