The poverty rate now sits at 15.1 percent, but 21st-century impoverishment does not entail the destitution of centuries prior. A member of a family below the poverty line can still own a car and a computer, and receive a college education. This may indicate ways in which an increasingly technological society is enriching the quality of life for the poor — but other figures are more disturbing. The median income of the average American family is now back at the same level it was in 1996, which indicates a 15-year period of zero growth and a lower standard of living for future generations. Patrick J. Buchanan says the last vestiges of the American middle class are being swept away under a torrent of outsourcing, immigration, and taxation.

After a decade of foreign aid, clandestine CIA activities, and full-fledged military interventions, it turns out neoconservatism’s misguided actions had a catalyst: it was all just a big Nigerian e-mail scam. Tom Engelhard pokes fun at the folly of America’s willingness to dump trillions of dollars into precarious situations around the globe.

Mitt Romney is making clear his commitment to perpetuating American intervention in the Israel-Palestine conflict. As the U.N. faces a Palestinian bid for statehood, Romney has made clear where he stands: “What we are watching unfold at the United Nations is an unmitigated diplomatic disaster … It is the culmination of President Obama’s repeated efforts over three years to throw Israel under the bus and undermine its negotiating position. That policy must stop now.”