Why Can't Bill Richardson Catch Fire?
A conventional Democrat in a field of standout candidates, the New Mexico governor is struggling to raise his profile in Iowa. Jonathan Stein, Mother Jones

Postal Service Says Killing Small Periodicals Is a "Win-Win"
Defying the Founding Fathers, Bush appointees at the USPS set to strangle the free press.  Jonathan Stein, Mother Jones

Hogging the Road
How a company called Traffic.com landed an exclusive government contract worth millions to gather data on the nation's highways—and then sold the information back to us. James Ridgeway, Mother Jones

Trumping Bush's Troop Card
Just today the president used the "wounded warrior" defense to chastise Congress for a combined spending bill. And still, year after year, Bush's budgets make it more difficult for vets to receive care.  MoJoBlog

Bush White House Outdoes Rose Mary Woods
Rose Mary Woods, Richard Nixon's White House secretary, only managed to hide eighteen and a half minutes of her boss's secretly tape-recorded conversations. The Bush White House deleted at least 5 million email records it should have kept. David Corn, Mother Jones

Workers of the World Unite
Unions are going global, so your job doesn't have to.  Joan Hamilton, Mother Jones

Mitt Romney and the Wrath of the Log Cabin Republicans
The former Massachusetts governor spent much of his political career courting gay conservatives, only to do an about-face on gay rights in advance of his presidential run. For the Log Cabin Republicans, it's payback time. Jonathan Stein, Mother Jones

What's in a Logo?
Just a few billion here and a few font changes there and we'll have peace in Iraq. A political animation.  Mark Fiore, Mother Jones

Why Verizon Gave the Feds Your 411
Last week's revelation that Verizon readily opened its phone logs to the feds should come as no surprise. The firm is a standout example of the revolving door between government and the telecom industry. Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium

God Tells You How to Vote
The evangelicals at the Family Research Council's "Values Voters Summit" may view homosexuals as abominations of nature and immigrants as a corruption of American culture, but they sure are nice. MoJoBlog, Mother Jones

Interview with Sen. Christopher Dodd
Dodd (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, talked to Mother Jones about how and when the United States should leave Iraq.  Mother Jones

The Dems' Wiretapping Woes
After plotting for weeks on how to temper the surveillance bill the president railroaded through Congress this summer, Congressional Dems had their plans scuttled, again, by the Republican minority.  Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium

Office of Special Counsel's War On Whistleblowers
OSC is investigating Karl Rove's political machine. But until recently OSC head Scott Bloch's policy was to ignore whistleblowers' tips on murder, espionage, and terrorism, while vigorously rooting out any signs of the "homosexual agenda." Daniel Schulman, Mother Jones

No Congress, No Peace in Iran
If the United States spreads its Middle Eastern disaster into Iran, it won't be the fault of George W. Bush alone – a Democratic Congress will share some of the blame. Fortunately, the legislative branch has effective options for stopping war before it starts. Jonathan Schwarz, Mother Jones

Fight Different: Politics 2.0
The halls of power will belong to whoever can tap the passion of the online masses. That kid with a laptop has Karl Rove quaking in his boots. And if you believe that, we've got some leftover Pets.com stock to sell you. Mother Jones