the browntable

Making his first appearance before the United Nations General Assembly as president, Barack Obama laid out a forceful, well-received case for international cooperation in a globalized world. He laid out “four pillars” that would determine America’s relationship to the diplomatic and peacekeeping body going forward: nuclear disarmament, energy security and climate change, democracy promotion and…

After addressing the United Nations on the topic of climate change and having a closely-watched bilateral meeting with Chinese president Hu Jintao, President Obama headed to the Clinton Global Initiative to address conference attendees from businesses, NGOs, and governments around the world. There, he gave a well-rounded, if vague address on the major crises of…

Former President Bill Clinton spoke to a group of reporters at his Clinton Global Initiative gathering in New York this week. With the backdrop of the United Nations General Assembly and the G20 summit around the corner, Clinton was voluble, direct and full of expertise on issues ranging from health care reform (“We should fight…

The infamous prankster activists known as the “Yes Men” have struck again—hijacking Monday’s NEW YORK POST to promote the cause of climate action and energy security. Their successful reprinting of the widely read daily tabloid mirrors a November 2008 stunt wherein they circulated a credible-looking NEW YORK TIMES reading “Iraq War Ends.” Monday’s headlines shout…

So, two white kids dress up in pimp-and-ho drag and walk into a social service agency with a sneer… nope, it’s not the set up for a one-liner, but serious “news.” It’s how 25-year-old James O’Keefe and 20-year-old Hannah Giles made their now-famous gotcha video to prove community-organizing group ACORN is, well, helping poor people.…

President Barack Obama wields a fake “Star Wars”-style lightsaber with young children visiting the White House for an event held by the Office on Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport. The event drew hundreds of young athletes, as well as the delegation to the International Olympic Committee, working with first lady Michelle Obama to promote Chicago’s…

The president has returned to Washington from two days of rigorous domestic policy talk. One year after the US financial markets went into freefall, Obama’s lecture to bankers on Wall Street and his pep rally for auto manufacturers in Michigan were important to restoring confidence in the American economy. Tomorrow, however, Obama turns to foreign…

As a father of two daughters, my heart stopped as I surfed to the Washington Post’s website and saw the vibrant photograph of Annie Le, murdered the other day in New Haven. When a lovely Yale graduate student is killed only days before her wedding, and the body is found hidden within a wall inside…

At least now we now know how we got from here: (spoiler alert) To here: So far, my take on race in Mad Men is that it’s enjoyable (read: not stressful) to watch the show deal with race in a mostly ancillary fashion—the black characters have been presented sparingly, underscoring just how insulated and out…