The Sanders Sensation

The Sanders Sensation

When I crossed paths with a Democratic campaign consultant in Austin last March, I suggested he come to the local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall to hear Bernie Sanders speak. The Vermont senator, I added, was pondering a presidential run. “You...
Border Boondoggle

Border Boondoggle

Good fences, wrote Robert Frost, make good neighbors. But an 18-foot high, 2,000-mile wall? That’s another story. It just antagonizes your neighbor — and shows your own fear and weakness. Yet this is what self-described conservatives running for president...
What Competing Thanksgiving Tales Share

What Competing Thanksgiving Tales Share

Thanksgiving is here. Let’s eat! America’s most food-focused holiday traces its roots back to the abundant feast that Pilgrims and Indians enjoyed together in the fall of 1621. Only half of the Mayflower Pilgrims who’d arrived at Plymouth Rock the previous...
A Racist Wake-Up Call

A Racist Wake-Up Call

I worked proudly with Muslim CIA officers in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. I used to think most Americans understood that Muslim Americans are patriots, too. Ahmed Mohamed’s recent ordeal proved how wrong I was. He’s the 14-year-old who was recently interrogated,...
Clear Warning Signs

Clear Warning Signs

For many people of color, it was with a sickening sense of familiarity that we watched the video of yet another routine traffic stop that would come to a tragic end. Two days before authorities discovered Sandra Bland’s lifeless body in her Texas jail cell, the...