Opinions
A Right to Bear Glocks?
Not a Whole New Kind of Political Violence
NEW YORK--In 2009, Gabrielle Giffords was holding a “Congress on Your Corner” meeting at a Safeway supermarket in her district when a protester, who was waving a sign that said “Don’t Tread on Me,” waved a little too strenuously.
The pistol he was carrying under his armpit fell out of his holster. [Read full story]
A Narrow-Mind Set in Oklahoma
Regulating Pink Unicorns and Flying Cars
MIAMI, Fla.--We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of America’s mind.
It was last seen last month in Oklahoma.
There, voters gave emphatic approval to a measure outlawing the use of Sharia law--a strict and often brutal interpretation of Islamic religious strictures--in state courts. [Read full story]
Advice to Progressives
Fighting Tea Party Faux Populism
WASHINGTON--Progressives are an impatient bunch. We fight for people who have waited too long already--for health care, for educational opportunity, for jobs to keep them in the middle-class. [Read full story]
The Tea Kettle Movement
There’s a Party Waiting
NEW YORK--There are actually two Tea Party movements in America today: one you’ve read about that is not that important and one you’ve not read about that could become really important if the right politician understood how to tap into it. [Read full story]
Where Racism Lurks
‘Dr. Laura’ Betrays Her True Colors
WASHINGTON--I’m going to talk about the flap over Laura Schlessinger’s use of the N-word without once calling her the R-word. The nationally syndicated radio talk-show host said the N-word 11 times during a recent program in response to a Black woman who called to complain about the racially-tinged language used by some of her white husband’s friends.
The caller was looking for relationship advice. [Read full story]
No ‘Graceful Exit’
Afghanistan War Just Goes on and On
NEW YORK--In his book, “The Promise,” about President Barack Obama’s first year in office, Jonathan Alter describes a brief conversation between the president and Vice President Joe Biden that took place last November at the end of Mr. Obama’s long deliberation about what to do in Afghanistan. [Read full story]
Obama’s Team
‘A Basket Case’ on Race Issues
WASHINGTON--The Shirley Mrs. Sherrod embarrassment would never have happened on Louis Martin’s watch.
In the early 1960’s, Martin told a senator who resisted his attempt to get John F. Kennedy to appoint a Black to the federal bench, that it was his job to protect the “prestige and the stature of the president of the United States among the Blacks.”
[Read full story]
Judge’s Immigration Decision
A Gift to the GOP?
WASHINGTON--Christmas came early for demagogues. The court decision putting a hold on the worst provisions of Arizona's new anti-Latino immigration law is a gift-wrapped present to those who delight in turning truth, justice and the American way into political liabilities.
[Read full story]
Defining Prosperity Down
The Elite Turns Back on Unemployed
NEW YORK--I’m starting to have a sick feeling about prospects for American workers--but not, or not entirely, for the reasons you might think.
Yes, growth is slowing, and the odds are that unemployment will rise, not fall, in the months ahead. That’s bad.
[Read full story]
Economic Justice
NAACP Fails to Put Heat on Obama
GREENSBORO, N.C.--A day after the NAACP passed a resolution calling on the Tea Party movement to condemn unnamed racists in its ranks, I stood inside this city’s old F.W. Woolworth, the scene of a truly important civil rights battle. [Read full story]
The Pundit Delusion
On the Irrelevance of Political Theater
NEW YORK--The latest hot political topic is the “Obama paradox”--the supposedly mysterious disconnect between the president’s achievements and his numbers.
The line goes like this: The administration has had multiple big victories in Congress, most notably on health reform, yet, President Barack Obama’s approval rating is weak. [Read full story]
