01 December 2008

The team of rivals thing

By Alec MacGillis

For Barack Obama, forgiveness has few bounds if it means he can surround himself with the best people - and that includes a former enemy, Hillary Clinton

• 17 comments

No time for mourning

By Steve Richards

New Labour has not died. The coalition that won three general elections was always based on pragmatism and the clear-eyed desire to win, which remains as strong as ever

• 3 comments

Tactical Briefing

By Jesse Armstrong

From: The Unit To: GB Subject: Beyond triangulation

Plight of the unpeople

By John Pilger

Britain happily colludes in the great state crimes of other western governments. Take the law lords' betrayal of the Chagos Islanders

• 12 comments

An American suicide

By Jonathan Derbyshire

There was no subject about which David Foster Wallace could not write brilliantly, from politics to the internet to sport. He was a hero to a generation. Yet he struggled terribly with depression. This summer, he took his own life

• 7 comments

Who's behind the Thai protests?

By Sholto Byrnes

The paradox for western observers is that, as the protests in Thailand show, these elites can have genuine mass support

• 6 comments

Shakespeare’s Globe

By Sebastian Shakespeare

When I last saw Roy Jenkins he was enjoying a convivial lunch. “He’s a two-bottle-a-lunch man,” whispered my host

The Politics Column

Darling holds his nerve

By Martin Bright

The Chancellor's refusal to panic has won him respect, but his biggest test still lies ahead

The Politics Column

That old top-rate myth

By James Macintyre

As Labour shows itself willing to challenge the right-wing press, now is the moment for the party to prove it can be even bolder

Commons Confidential

Hissy fits and a comb-over

By Kevin Maguire

All the gossip from the Westminster Village

The wrong trousers

In "A Little Local Murder", Robert Barnard describes a character as "the sort of person who went through life looking as if he was wearing his brother's trousers". We asked for descriptions of well-known people who can be characterised just as dismissively