Archive
More U.S. Aid Won’t End Mexico’s Drug War
With all the astoundingly grisly incidents involving Mexico’s armed forces these days, one thing is clear: the drug war is failing. The Mexican military shouldn’t get another penny of U.S. military aid. However, the White House’s new budget proposal calls for pumping another $282 million into Mexico’s drug war next year.
An Unprecedented Attack from Polluters
As a new mother, it breaks my heart when I hear stories from parents who are struggling with their kids’ health problems. I know parents who live in fear of their child’s next asthma attack. Some can’t even let their kids play outside when local air pollution hits dangerous levels. We do everything we can to protect our kids, even before they’re born.
What’s at Stake in Wisconsin
But when government workers and their supporters in Madison, Wisconsin protested and I ran out to yell, “We are all Madisonians,” some people began to boo and hiss, and that little old lady threw a dead rat at me.
Out-of-Whack Budget Whackers
Ax-wielding Republicans and Democrats alike are madly whacking at our nation’s public programs in a political contest to show which of them is the scroogiest of all.
Scapegoating Social Spending
War Is Hell, Even if You Survive
When you’re back.
Forget for a moment the death, devastation, deprivation, disease, displacement, and despair visited upon civilians in war zones. Let’s briefly contemplate the fate of soldiers. Ours, anyway. We really don’t know (or care) much about theirs except for the reported killings of “suspected militants.” “Suspected militant” has come to mean anybody we happen to kill–man, woman, or child.
The Lineup: Week of February 21-27, 2011
In this week’s OtherWords editorial package, Jim Hightower salutes the Green Bay Packers and their 112,000 owners while Michael B. Keegan expresses concern that Rep. Peter King’s upcoming hearings on domestic terrorism will exploit widespread fears of Muslims in a newfangled version of McCarthyism. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.
A Military Budget on the Wrong Side of History
The Obama administration is scrambling to get on the right side of history. It has a lot of ground to make up. History is mostly judging the United States these days for launching, and now perpetuating, the longest wars in our history.
House Hearings Shouldn’t Demonize the Muslim-American Community
In March, the House of Representatives will begin hearings on preventing domestic terrorist attacks. Rep. Peter King, the lawmaker leading the hearings, unfortunately has made it clear he intends to use his post to stoke fear and suspicion about American Muslims rather than explore critical homeland security issues.
New START’s Nuclear Compromise
Despite New START’s substantive merits and overwhelming bipartisan support, the eight-month-long campaign to win the U.S. Senate’s approval was a knock-down-drag-out fight, the successful outcome of which was in doubt until the very end.
