Electronic Pen

Robert Dreyfuss It's time to give up on a centralized state, and let Afghanistan be Afghanistan--namely, a diverse, decentralized collection of fiefdoms.

Joanna Scott A reconsideration of the fictive truths behind a storyteller's many masks.

• Dan Kaufman: La Despedida
• Stuart Klawans: Creatures of the Night

Leslie Savan A single-payer plan makes so much sense that even Joe Scarborough can't argue with it.

• Laura S. Boylan, MD & Joanne Landy: Single-Payer Will Win

Dan Bischoff Americans who've been bringing guns to public meetings about healthcare reform are really just responding to a media-wide casting call for crazies.

Dave Zirin & Sherry Wolf South African runner Caster Semenya shouldn't be the one humiliated by "gender testing"--it's the outdated views of athletic officials that are embarrassing.

John Nichols A new poll shows that most Americans do not approve of the war in Afghanistan. Isn't it time for Congress to check and balance Obama's wrongheaded escalation of this fundamentally-flawed occupation?

Sharon Lerner Under the current healthcare system, many women have become a medical underclass. So why do so many oppose a healthcare overhaul?

Jeremy Scahill The mercenary firm has a long and dark history with the CIA. Were they Bush and Cheney's private hit men?

• Blackwater Still Armed in Iraq
• Video: Scahill on Countdown

Robert Dreyfuss Several car bombs exploded in Iraq on Wednesday, killing or injuring hundreds of innocent people. This comes as a devastating blow to the country's citizens now that US attention has been focused on Afghanistan's election.