Rights and Democracy
Supreme Obstruction
Trump Is Opening the Floodgates of Hate
The staying power of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy has surprised and unsettled people across the political spectrum. Many voters who are angry about the loss of middle-class jobs and frustrated with our broken politics have rallied to Trump’s outsider...
When Red Tape Is a Good Thing
One of the dirtiest words in politics is "regulation." It conjures up images of confusing paperwork, red tape, and obstacles to progress and innovation. However, when it comes to guaranteeing that the water we drink is lead-free, the air we breathe is clean, and that...
Dying in Prison
Over the past three decades, judges and juries have filled America's prisons with non-violent offenders. Many are serving draconian sentences for first-time offenses. Indeed, while only about 5 percent of the world’s people live in the United States, our country is...
Heil Trump
What Would Nancy Say?
I was late to the Nancy Reagan Admiration Society. She had arrived on the political scene, after all, on the arm of Ronald Reagan, a man I neither liked nor admired. I thought he was a phony — a B-movie star who seemed either unwilling or unable to differentiate...
The Humpty Dumpty Party
Is Donald Trump’s presidential bid terrifying you? Try to relax. The bullying billionaire probably can’t make it to the White House. He needs to win a majority of all voters, not just Republicans. That will be tough when nearly two out of three of Americans already...
An American Mussolini
As you probably heard, Donald Trump canceled a rally in Chicago after scuffles broke out between Trump supporters and opponents around the arena where the candidate was supposed to speak. True to form, Trump blamed everybody but himself for this debacle. He eventually...
Scalia’s “Conflict-of-Interest Airlines” Frequent Flyer Status
How curious that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, of all places, in an exclusive West Texas hunting lodge. Yet more curious, all expenses for hizzonor's February stay were paid by the resort's owner, John Poindexter. He's a Houston manufacturing mogul who...
What the GOP’s Supreme Obstruction Means for Women
Senators, constitutional scholars may tell you, must "advise and consent" on the president’s Supreme Court nominees. But apparently the official GOP policy is to "refuse and obstruct." They’ve vowed not even to give President Obama’s nominees a vote. These Republicans...
