Rights and Democracy
Fashion-Minded Men Hop Aboard Yummy Train
Attention, men. Yes, you people with Y chromosomes — it's time for some man-talk. Specifically, we need to address how you dress. First, the good news: At long last, the "metrosexual" look, style, demeanor, and even the idea of the metrosexual man are dead. I know...
Hyping the GOP’s Prospects in 2014
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is forecasting a "tsunami" victory for his party in the 2014 midterm elections. Democrats are despairing over election-forecasting whiz kid Nate Silver's projections, which indicate that the GOP may gain six Senate...
Supremely Mistaken about Affirmative Action
In a disturbingly lopsided 6-2 vote, the United States Supreme Court once again became a willing accomplice in the recent onslaught of attacks on 60 years of civil rights progress. Less than a year after it effectively dismantled the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the...
Apartheid America
What do you think when you hear the word "apartheid"? For most folks, it evokes images of Nelson Mandela's fight to integrate South Africa in the face of extreme racial segregation and brutal violence. Maybe it's a word you associate with the past. But segregation...
Our Law-killers Are Back in the Saddle
They're back. They're rested. They're ready! I'm talking about our Congress critters. They've returned to their workplace after enjoying a badly needed and two-week-long Easter vacation. After all, it had been a full four weeks since their last vacation in March, and...
Reviving Government of, by, and for the People
Here we are, 150 years after President Abraham's Lincoln's address at Gettysburg. Now, our democracy is imperiled not by guns and bullets, but by the greed of the rich. The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in the McCutcheon v. FEC case struck down federal limits on the...
The Immigration Waiting Game
The Martinez family's generosity toward their community harkens back to a bygone era. They're quick to help their neighbors when they need a hand. They pass warm food and tools to neighbors across the fence as if they were family. Neighborhood kids love going to their...
Buy a Box of Cereal, Waive Your Rights Goodbye
Buying a cell phone plan could make you powerless to sue your phone company if it defrauds you. Using a coupon to buy a box of cereal may mean you give up your right to sue if the food is tainted. Checking your grandmother into a nursing home could prevent you from...
Brown’s Bittersweet Legacy
What a bittersweet 60th anniversary: On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling declared "separate but equal" school systems inherently unconstitutional. After making great progress toward integrating public schools, our nation...
Smart Glasses Won’t Magnify Rick Perry’s Brain
Rick "Oops" Perry is back, pitching himself for another presidential run. This time, he's sporting eyeglasses. What fun. Who can forget the Texas governor's nationally televised pratfall during a 2011 presidential debate, when he couldn't remember the third federal...
