Rights and Democracy
The Hidden Bombshell in the Comey-Trump Story
How can you tell an authoritarian when you see one? We know the 20th century hallmarks — brown shirts, street rallies, and the like. But there’s an autocratic attitude, some historians suggest, that can easily be traced across the centuries. To put it simply, New York...
Have You Seen George W.’s Paintings? They’re Missing Something.
George W. Bush has been on something of a public relations tour recently, showcasing paintings he's done since leaving office. The tour seems designed to rebuild his image as a tortured artist wrestling with his demons — a flawed but morally introspective tragic...
Billionaires Lay Siege to State Governments
It’s easy to become mesmerized by The Donald Show in this year's political circus. But a lot of the real action is in the outer rings, where the Koch brothers, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and their corporate cohorts have laid siege to our state...
Cement Shoes
American Justice Now Feels Laughable
Heard any good jokes lately? Desiree Fairooz did. But laughing at it got her thrown in jail. That's right: Fairooz was just convicted for laughing during the confirmation hearing of now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January 2017. She'd attended the hearing, in her...
Fighting An Unfair System
The gap between the rich and poor has been growing for decades. Some claim this growing gap is the natural result of smart, hard workers getting what they deserve (fabulous wealth) and lazy, mediocre workers getting what they deserve, too (poverty). This framing is...
Turns Out Running the Country Isn’t Like Running a Business
Our president says he wants to run the country like a business. But it turns out running the government isn't like running a business after all. Trump, for his part, says he's located the source of the problem: the Constitution. All those checks and balances our...
The Post Office Delivers, Literally
A half-dollar hardly counts as money these days — it won't even buy a cup of coffee. But pssssst… here's an amazing half-dollar bargain for you: A first-class postage stamp. For 50 cents, you get the stamp, 3 cents in change, and America's phenomenal network of post...
The Crazier Than Thou Contest
Women’s Health Is on the Chopping Block, Again
My nieces, who range in age from 17 to 25, grew up in a very different world from the one I knew coming of age in the 1970s. For their entire lives, abortion has been legal. And Planned Parenthood and other women’s clinics have served as a steadfast source of health...
