Rights and Democracy
Scrap the PATRIOT Act
It's back. The PATRIOT Act — a grotesque, ever-mutating, hydra-headed monstrosity from the Bush-Cheney Little Shop of Horrors — has risen again. This time, it's got an added twist of Orwellian intrusiveness from the Obamacans. Since 2006, Team Bush, and now Team...
A Verdict that Condemns the State of Civil Rights in America
The not-guilty verdict a jury of six women reached in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin was outrageous. Although I'd been following this case since February 26, 2012 — the day George Zimmerman, a Sanford, Florida, neighborhood watch captain, gunned down the unarmed...
One Step at a Time
"Be prepared" is the motto of the Boy Scouts of America. Surely its national leaders remembered those words as they prepped for backlash from a recent decision to admit openly gay Scouts while maintaining a ban on gay adults. As a result of the policy change, some...
Taking Embarrassing to a New Level
Virtually every president gets on a roll at some time during his administration, generally early on. And while he's on that roll, every day is a wedding. He gets bills passed, international relations go his way, and people love him. It seems he can't make a bad move....
The Orange Uprising
Overnight, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis became the face of the pro-choice movement in her state and the entire nation. When the Democrat from Fort Worth in pink running shoes filibustered for nearly 13 hours in the Texas Senate on the last day of its regular...
Battle of the Studies
Before I went to college, my high school advisors strongly encouraged me to choose a "practical" major. Science, technology, engineering, math — any of these fields would lead to a promising career. I rebelled. I chose to study international affairs and history....
DOMA’s Demise
I arrived at the Supreme Court a half hour before decision time, only to wade into a sea of rainbow, red, white, and blue. The last time I was here was in March. Bundled into my coat and scarf, I joined a demonstration outside the court as opening arguments were heard...
The Modern Movement for Civil Rights
The racial picture in America has improved remarkably in my lifetime, so much so that a black man has been elected and re-elected President of the United States — an unthinkable development just a few years ago. But paradoxically, Barack Obama's victory in 2008...
Today’s Mad Men
I remember when I first started watching Mad Men. Like most of America, I got hooked. How could I not? The glitz and glamour of 1960s Manhattan was irresistible. But from the very first episode, I knew there was something deeply wrong with this world — the...
An Endangered Species Up in Arms
As many of you already have intuited, I don't know everything. Nobody does, I suppose. More importantly, I don't know everything about anything. I'm what used to be called "a generalist," someone whose knowledge in any direction is a mile wide and a quarter-inch deep....
