Rights and Democracy
Our Choice: Tune out Washington or Help Rebuild
Way back in the 1960s, I held that my body was “a temple of God.” Thanks to my Christian beliefs, I wouldn’t corrupt it with mind-altering drugs. As a citizen, I saw my responsibility as finding a way to drop into government, not out of it. I made a choice to be part of a solution to the problems of war, misspent tax dollars, and racism.
Pelosi Protest Followed by Cautious Optimism at Progressive Gathering
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech at the America’s Future Now conference went off-script. The Washington Post did a great job telling the story of how the California lawmaker spoke for a half an hour over the garbled jeers of more than a dozen infuriated healthcare activists in orange t-shirts, many of them in wheelchairs
Arkansas and America’s Future Now
I’m spending the time I can spare while not editing OtherWords’ upcoming commentaries at America’s Future Now, which runs through Wednesday in Washington. This annual progressive summit fittingly coincides this year with Arkansas’ Democratic primary runoff.
God’s to Blame Too
We blame the government for bad health care and for trying to improve it. We blame it for the lousy economy and wars that never end and for the education of our children, which is also lousy. We blame it when it runs a deficit and when it tries to lower the deficit by taxing us. We blame it for the high price of gasoline and the low price of corn. In short, we blame government for pretty much everything, but ourselves for nothing. Neither do we blame God.
The Drug War: More Wasted Money and Lives
The Associated Press recently reported on some exhaustive research, undertaken by the nonprofit International Centre for Science in Drug Policy. These tireless scholars examined 300 studies covering the past 20 years, evaluating the public good arising from police crusades against drug peddling.
Kentucky Adopts Civil Rights Resolution
Following the uproar about Rand Paul’s views on civil rights–in particular, how he doesn’t think it’s the government’s job to guarantee them–Kentucky state lawmakers have adopted a resolution “declaring any form of discrimination to be inconsistent with American values.”
Do Yourself a Favor, Rand: Stop Talking
There’s no doubt about it: The tea party is on a roll. Its support helped propel Scott Brown into Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat; it led the way in shouldering aside ultra-conservative Robert Bennett in Utah’s Senate primary, in favor of an even more conservative candidate; and it was a factor in forcing Florida Governor Charlie Crist to leave the Republican Party to run as an independent. And finally, as the pièce de résistance, it saw one of its favorite sons–Rand Paul, son of Libertarian Congressman Ron Paul–win the Republican Senate primary in Kentucky, despite the massed opposition of the entire GOP establishment, lock, stock and Dick Cheney.
Mainstream Media Blues
Recent times have been cruel to corporate media. Newspapers, magazines, TV, and even radio are all battling the wolf at the door. Often, the wolf wins. Print publications especially are under the gun. Many have closed and aren’t coming back. Others are mere shadows of their former selves.
Media Disaster
Academic Diversity on the Supreme Court
Do you realize that if she is confirmed, everybody on the Supreme Court will be a product of either Harvard or Yale? All nine of them.
