Here are three articles that seek to explain some of the ‘whys’ of what’s happening in our country and two articles about Israel and the Palestinians.

(8/8/12 – 2 PM: Fixed link for Leo Rennert’s response to Burg below)

1. Yes, There’s Voter Fraud by Richard L. Hansen in the NYTimes, Aug. 5, 2012.

Hansen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, is the author of “The Voting Wars: From Florida 2000 to the Next Election Meltdown,” writes what seems to me one of the more balanced views of this issue.

Length: Short

2. Into the Bailout Buzz Saw, by Gretchen Morgenson, NYTimes, July 21, 2012.

Times business columnist Morgenson writes about Neil Barofsky and calls his new book Bailout “a must read.” Barofsky was the man tasked with policing the $700 billion TARP bailout and writes from the inside, calling both the Bush and Obama administrations to task for abandoning Main Street while rescuing Wall Street. More important, Barofsky explains how Washington works, or doesn’t work.

Length: Short

3. An Interview with Mike Lofgren, Author of “The Party Is Over” by Leslie Thatcher in Truthout, Aug. 3, 2012.

Lofgren is the Republican staff member who after 28 years working in Congress wrote an article Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult (of course you remember reading this excellent article a year ago on MillersTime). He has now expanded that widely read article into a book, The Party Is Over: How the Republicans Went Crazy, the Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Go Shafted. Lofgren, like Barofsky above, knows what is happening in Washington.

Length: Medium

4. Israel’s Fading Democracy by Avraham Burg, Aug. 4, 2012 in the NYTimes.

Burg, a former speaker of the Knesset, chairman of Molad, The Center for Renewal of Democracy, and author of The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Rise From It’s Ashes, writes, “Israel is in danger of becoming just another Middle East theocracy.”

Taking exception to Burg and his article is Leo Rennert who calls Burg “a self hating Israeli” in an August 7th response.

Total Length of Burg’s article & Rennert’s response: Medium

5. Occupation, Not Culture, Is Holding Palestinians Back, by Munib R. Masri in NYTimes, August 3, 2012.

Masri, a Palestinian businessman and industrialist writing from the West Bank, believes there’s no real difference between Obama and Romney, and both basically ignore what is keeping the Palestinians down – the Occupation.

Length: Short