Rights and Democracy
NPR’s Stupid Situation
National Public Radio is having a tough time. It’s being beaten up and knocked down, and its good name is getting dragged through the mud.
Delivering for America, Six Days a Week
You may not realize how much small towns and rural areas depend on the mail until someone puts it like this: “Folks who die after midnight on a Friday could be buried before their relatives read about the death in my Monday edition.”
Detroit’s Ruins
Poor Detroit. The bad news never stops. The once-proud miracle of capitalism is the urban equivalent of a homeless family living under a bridge, digging in dumpsters for scraps.
Sarah Palin and the Dozen Dwarfs
To call the Republican field weak is to understate the obvious.
Newt Fakes It
At last, Newt Gingrich has come bucking out of the presidential chute, shouting “Yippie-ty-yi-yo, here I go!” On March 3, that grizzled old cowpoke working the far-right-wing corral of American politics declared that he’s raring to go for the Republican presidential nomination.
The Case for Spending More on Public Broadcasting
Once again, America’s public broadcasters face the real possibility that their federal funding will vanish. This time, opponents are using the results of a dubious sting operation and the federal deficit as rationales for scrapping spending. But during an economic crisis, we need more reporting, more coverage, and more accountability, not less.
Senate Shenanigans
As its opening act this year, the Senate passed a bipartisan resolution to restrict–but not eliminate-a maneuver known as the “secret hold.” The rules still allow a single senator to anonymously delay urgent legislation.
From Libya to Wisconsin, with Love
Echoes of Fascism
As the saying goes, Franco’s still dead. But fascism isn’t. Its basic tenet is what Mussolini called “supercapitalism,” a system where governments and corporations work hand-in-glove. Some modern business moguls might like to give it a shot. In Mussolini’s day, that meant government needed to take over companies. Today, the companies just take over the government.
Sidelining Egyptian Women after the Uprising
A century ago, more than a million people marched in streets across Europe on the first International Women’s Day. They called for an end to discrimination and for women to have the same rights as men to work, vote, and shape their countries’ futures.
