I questioned The Nation's decision not to endorse Kucinich and strongly disagree with its decision to now embrace tainted goods. Vanden Heuvel's rationalisation ducks Klein's and Scahill's point - you don't sway candidates by hugging them, even if it is a qualified embrace.

The message The Nation is sending is, "I don't agree with you but I will vote for you anyway". It should be, "I won't vote for you unless you stand and fight for what I feel are critically important issues". Isn't that the way representative democracy is supposed to work?

What do you call the cynical maneuvering The Nation is practicing? I call it Machiavellian. Do The Nation's editors bother to read their own magazine? I recommend a thorough reading of the New Deal issue.

Kudos to Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill. They are why I subscribe to The Nation but it seems like the same situation one gets into with the MSM - reading it for a couple of good columnists while avoiding corporate editorials.

A. Whitten

San Diego, CA

In the coming general election, I will, for the first time in my life, not vote a straight Democratic ticket. I voted for Kucinich, and will vote for Nader, because I know they would pull the troops out of Irag, our country out of the WTO and NAFTA-like trade agreements. I voted for Clinton twice and got "free trade." I have settled for less too many times and got a real disaster with Clinton. He set things up so an idiot like Bush could totally destroy an economic system that had made us a world power. Both of these candidates are corporate Democrats. They both have Clinton economic advisers.

I do think in future elections The Nation needs to stand aside and give objective critics of all the candidates and the policies of all administrations. You could rate them on various issues, but not endorse them. I also think the articles should be issue-oriented, with all comments related to that issue. Homophobia and racism are serious problems, but not the reason behind every bad policy decision.

Individuals and countries do not develop in a straight line. They step forward, backward, and to the side. Analysis, analysis, and more analysis!

Pervis J. Casey

Riverside, CA