TRUTHDIG

>> TRUTHDIG ORIGINAL REPORT:

Bill Blum on the Roberts Court
"Three Supreme Court Cases That Should Worry You" -- If the Roberts court is consistent, 2012 could be remembered as a very bad year for working people, minorities and the poor.

>> TRUTHDIG ARTS AND CULTURE:

Mr. Fish on Hitchens
"For Christopher Hitchens" -- It was like meeting a clown outside of his makeup, away from the hysteria of his profession, who appears lovely and handsome and noble, if only because he isn’t trapped in a spotlight at the center of a ludicrous pie fight. 

>> SPECIAL REPORT:

Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich on the Fall of the "Liberal Elite"
"The Making of the American 99% and the Collapse of the Middle Class" -- Until a few months ago, the 99% was hardly a group capable of articulating “the identity of their interests.” It contained, and still contains, most “ordinary” rich people, along with middle-class professionals, factory workers, truck drivers, and miners, as well as the much poorer people who clean the houses, manicure the fingernails, and maintain the lawns of the affluent.

>> DON'T MISS THE BEST OF OUR SYNDICATED COLUMNISTS:

E.J. Dionne, Jr. on Blackballing Newt Gingrich
"Newt and the Revenge of the Base" -- It is one of the true delights of a bizarrely entertaining Republican presidential contest to watch the apoplectic fear and loathing of so many GOP establishmentarians toward Newt Gingrich.

>> MOST READ ON OUR BLOG:

"30 Companies Paid Lobbyists More Than the IRS" -- An analysis by Public Campaign reveals that between 2008 and 2010, 30 of America’s most profitable companies, including Verizon, Wells Fargo, FedEx, GE and Mattel, spent more money buying influence in Washington than they did paying taxes.

"Hedges on Hitchens" -- Though he gives credit to Christopher Hitchens’ exceptional talent, Chris Hedges remembers the newly departed writer differently from the way others might in this clip from CBC Radio. In an unflinching appraisal, Hedges recalls what Hitchens got wrong about religion, his biggest intellectual failing and what it was like to engage him in a debate.

"Kim Jong Il Is Dead" -- North Korea’s current dictator has died. State television gives the cause of death as—and this is not a joke—exhaustion from working too hard. Kim succeeded his father in 1994 and has indicated that his third son is to take over the responsibility of oppressing the North Korean people.