Rights and Democracy
Donald Kaul Watergate Sampler Plate (Part 1)
Many of OtherWords columnist Donald Kaul's most memorable and insightful commentaries skewered the Watergate scandal and its architects. Kaul, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, remains on medical leave after writing a weekly column for this editorial service for...
The Other Immigrant Youth Crisis
Senator Ted Cruz says that eradicating an executive decision he blames for creating the humanitarian crisis on the border is his top priority. And lots of conservative members of the GOP are on board with the Texas Republican's demand. They argue that President Barack...
Getting Real about Rape
Hallelujah. Lawmakers are finally doing something productive about rape on college campuses. A group of eight senators has just proposed the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, which would ensure harsher penalties for colleges that aren't reporting on-campus sexual...
Impeachment? Who Said Anything about Impeachment?
Surely you thought that partisan posturing by far-right Congress critters couldn't get any nuttier. But here comes the GOP's claim that all the talk about impeaching President Barack Obama is being led by…Barack Obama! Having discovered that the larger public is...
Sorry, Pantene, You’re Holding Women Back Too
A Pantene commercial that tells women to stop apologizing and "#ShineStrong" has gone viral. It contrasts scenes of women saying things like "Sorry, can I ask a stupid question?" with snippets of them behaving in an assertive way. Pantene's commercial makes a good...
Billionaire Koch Heads Pony Up for the GOP
The Koch brothers — the GOP megadonors and fossil fuel magnates — live in their own special world, enshrouded in the fumes emanating from their family's enormous stockpiles of wealth. Charles and David Koch have always felt very special, and they expect those of us in...
The NFL’s Drugs vs Thugs Double Standard
The NFL's stance on illegal drugs is clear. If you're caught possessing or using them, you've automatically earned yourself a suspension. Consider Arizona Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington's case. He lost his entire 2014 salary of $2.9 million plus a few other...
Perry Imperils His Own Roadshow
Gosh, the 2016 primaries are a long way off, but look out: Here comes Texas Governor Rick Perry — riding his state's taxpayer dollars into another GOP presidential bid. Technically, he's not campaigning. Yet he's popping up from New York to California, holding press...
Do-Nothing Congress Does Something to Hide Its Debt to Lobbyists
When I heard our Congress critters are taking an extended vacation for all of August and part of September, I had two incongruous reactions: gratitude and anger. Gratitude, because their vacation gives us a five-week break from the spectacle of right-wing mad dogs in...
The Latest Crack in Our Broken Immigration System
In a bustling room at the Third Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico a group of white and Latino parishioners gathered for a workshop on immigration. They wanted to learn more about the issue. Julio Alvarez, a Mexican immigrant, was there to answer their...
