Rights / Democracy - OtherWords

Here’s what you’ll find in the latest OtherWords editorial package, which includes an op-ed by Jason Salzman about the tea party’s desire to scrap the Department of Education. Get all this and more in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly newsletter. If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.

Know-Nothing Party

by Jason Salzman

As America’s kids get used to school again, American education spending and policies are under attack. Tea party-backed candidates around the country, particularly in the West, are dredging up the old GOP idea to shut down the Department of Education.

Setting the Record Straight

by Donald Kaul

Increasingly we live in a world–alas–of deliberate misrepresentation and mischaracterization. Or you could call them lies.

The Stakes Are High for Latino Workers This Labor Day

by Richard Trumka

Across the United States, Labor Day marks the end of summer, and a day off from the job for the lucky ones. We often forget that this holiday originated from strife, not leisure. Labor Day finally only became a national holiday to celebrate America’s workers only because when workers rose up to demanded it.

Much Ado about Non-News Stories

by Donald Kaul

The tea party tempest unleashed by the First Lady’s mid-summer vacation–only Marie Antoinette would have left her husband alone on his birthday, apparently–is a function of the August news cycle.

See Newt Run

by Jim Hightower

Oh, please, Santa Claus, please! Please give us the political gift that keeps giving: Newt Gingrich.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Care

by William A. Collins

The glacial progress toward equality for gay Americans offers some revealing looks at our society. One is the weakening hold of religion, Roman Catholicism in particular. Until recently church bias against homosexuals was plainly understood, unspoken, unchallenged, and accepted.