Loose American Screws

Loose American Screws

My feeling continues to grow that somewhere deep in the psyche of the American people there is a screw loose. We entered the 21st century as the most powerful nation on earth. There was nobody second. We had our problems, certainly, but we also had a budget surplus, a...
David Koch’s Crass Act

David Koch’s Crass Act

David Koch, the right-wing multibillionaire, likes to pose as a class act. He’s thrown around several million bucks, for example, to get a wing of Manhattan’s Lincoln Center named for him and to buy a seat on the board of WGBH, Boston’s prestigious...
My Favorite Fourth of July Speech

My Favorite Fourth of July Speech

I like the Fourth of July. Almost everyone does. Friends and neighbors gathered in parks and back yards throughout the nation, sharing food and drink and happy thoughts in a festive atmosphere. What’s not to like? Well the patriotic claptrap, of course. That I...
Perry’s Prayer-Palooza

Perry’s Prayer-Palooza

When Texas became a republic in 1836, its constitution banned “ministers of the gospel” from holding any political office. Our problem these days, however, isn’t ministers in office, but politicians posing as ministers, seizing the pulpit to preach...
Sideshow Candidate

Sideshow Candidate

I recently wrote a column suggesting that my “lamestream media” colleagues give Michele Bachmann more love. As the most Republican of the Republican candidates, she deserved more attention, I said. They took me seriously. In the recent New Hampshire GOP...