Is the Fourth Estate a Fifth Column? With characteristic eloquence, Bill Moyers weighs in on the state of corporate media and the American republic. What he finds is less than heartening:

Democracy without honest information creates the illusion of popular consent at the same time that it enhances the power of the state and the privileged interests that the state protects...

Sadly, in many respects, the Fourth Estate has become the fifth column of democracy, colluding with the powers that be in a culture of deception that subverts the thing most necessary to freedom, and that is the truth.

Poison Pill Slipped Into Indian Health Bill. Michelle Chen reports on the "poison pill" amendment slipped into the Senate's Indian Health Care Improvement Act that would explicitly restrict abortions in Indian Health Services programs. The legislation, under consideration by the House of Representatives, would increase healthcare funding for Native Americans.

But for that very reason, Chen writes, the amendment creates "a cruel dilemma for activists focused on the intersection between reproductive rights and Native health issues":

"We just may have to eat this one, because we cannot use this to stop the bill from going through," says Charon Asetoyer of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center. "Otherwise, we'd end up with no healthcare at all."

Five Year Picketing Congress." Nope, not that Congress: The Congress Hotel in Chicago, site of the longest active strike in the United States. Associate editor Brian Cook reports on the five-year anniversary of the strike in June, which began after the hotel offered its workers wages 26 percent below Chicago's industry standard.

Despite the fact that the strike has nearly crippled the Congress' business -- the union estimates that the hotel's occupancy hovers at 30 percent, far below what most hotels need to stay afloat -- the two sides haven't met in almost a year.

NEXT WEEK: Salim Muwakkil on why Chicago doesn't deserve the 2016 Olympics... The EPA on Trial... The Dark Side of the Toyoya Prius... and John McCain's Aches and Pains.

Finally, thanks to all who've responded to our "32 Reasons to Give to In These Times" spring e-fundraiser campaign by making a donation. Every dollar counts.

Cheers,

Jeremy Gantz

Web editor