Baseball Escapism

Baseball Escapism

Seated in the upper deck at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, during a Giants-Rockies game, you wouldn’t know millions of Americans are underwater and unemployed, or that the 2012 elections were less than two months away. The large man seated next to me cups...
The Latest Battle in the War on Voting

The Latest Battle in the War on Voting

The Republican Party claims to be the party of small government — with the obvious exceptions of denying marriage equality and reproductive rights. But there’s another kind of big government that the party has overwhelmingly and enthusiastically gotten...
Chicago and the Psychology of Teacher Bashing

Chicago and the Psychology of Teacher Bashing

Last year, state lawmakers in Illinois did their best to make a Chicago teacher strike impossible. They passed a new law that required at least 75 percent of the city’s teachers to OK any walkout in advance. How did Chicago teachers respond? In advance...
Joe Walsh’s Greatest Hits

Joe Walsh’s Greatest Hits

When you hear the name Joe Walsh, you may think of the Eagles guitarist. But Joe Walsh is also the name of a tea-partying Republican lawmaker from Illinois. That Joe Walsh has released several of his own hits — really, really offensive hits. Most recently, the...
Ryan Runs Into the Truth

Ryan Runs Into the Truth

To borrow from President Lyndon Johnson’s colorful analysis of a Nixon speech, “I may not know much, but I know chicken [poop] from chicken salad.” Paul Ryan, the GOP’s current vice-presidential nominee, has spent his career in government...