There are some basic notions that undergird the operation of a democracy. When there’s an election, the candidate who gets more votes is the one who takes office. When a bill is passed through Congress and signed by the president, it’s now the law. And when you lose, you don’t get to demand that your […]
Politics/Economy
Congress, Now Is the Time to Vote “Hell No”
Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time Not out of indifference to the plight of the Syrian people, and not from an automatic rejection of any and all military action, but rather out of grave concern about the uncontrollable consequences that a U.S. missile strike upon Syria could trigger—such as, quite possibly, a war between Iran […]
Marching on Washington for Economic and Social Justice
* “Timid supplication for justice will not solve the problem. We have got to confront the power structure massively.” —Martin Luther King Jr. “If all the discriminatory laws in the United States were immediately repealed, race would still remain as one of the most pressing moral and political problems in the nation. . . . […]
“Nineteen Sixty-Three Is Not an End But a Beginning . . .”
* Another Sweltering Summer of Legitimate Discontent In this disheartening summer that has seen the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965—because, the chief justice tells us, its protections are no longer needed—amid vigorous rollbacks of voting rights and access in states with Republican-controlled legislatures; and that has seen a shockingly unjust […]
Read All About the 1963 March on Washington
Recommended Reading about a Movement Still Moving While we’re working on a longer piece about the great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom of August 28, 1963, we’d like to point you to some writings about the event that we think are worth spending some time...
The (GOP-Driven) Decline of Black Power in the South . . .
“He who controls redistricting can control Congress.” —Karl Rove, “The GOP Targets State Legislatures,” The Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2010 “I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president [1948] we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if...
On July 4, Yearning for a Progressive American Revolution
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are...
A Return to Literacy Tests? Take This.
How Many White Folks Does It Take to Pass a Jim Crow ‘Brain-Teaser’? With the Supreme Court’s June 25 decision in Shelby County v. Holder overturning Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and with Republican Jim Crow re-enactors “free at last” to get their electoral racism on, will the United States see a return […]
Supreme Conservatives Drag U.S. Ceaselessly into the (Jim Crow) Past
* “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” —Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, dissenting opinion, Shelby County v. Holder Re-Legalizing Electoral Racism; Red State Republicans ‘Free at Last’ June 25, 2013, will […]
In Honor of Medgar Evers and Res Publica
Conservatives’ rejection of all things “public” as “white flight” “The gifts of God . . . should be enjoyed by all citizens in Mississippi.” —Medgar Evers (1925–1963) * Fifty years ago today, Medgar Wylie Evers was killed in his driveway in Jackson, Mississippi, after returning from an NAACP meeting at a nearby church. Evers, a graduate […]
From OMB to OMG: Waking Up to Obama’s FY14 Budget
Is This What We Voted for in 2008, 2012? We will have more to say in the coming days about the president’s 2014 budget—there’s so much to, uh, appreciate—but here’s a start. The graphics above and below, from the National Priorities Project, based upon the Office of Management and Budget, show the proportion of discretionary spending […]
The Life You Save May Be Your Own Child’s
* We see the efforts needed to reduce the slaughter of innocents (of all ages) as comprising three elements: gun control; expanded psychological services; and pressure on Hollywood and video game makers to dial down the ultraviolence. Not only do the citizens of the...
Obama Wins More Time to Repair, Lead America Forward
Solid Victories for Progressive, Liberal Candidates, Reforms [ cross-posted at Daily Kos ] “The task of perfecting our union moves forward” “I have never been more hopeful about America. . . . I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that...
Election Hotline: In New York, Dialing Ohio
[ cross-posted at Daily Kos ] In our last installment of Fun with Volunteering, we told about taking a bus ride to Philadelphia. Last night and this morning, on the eve and the early hours of Election Day, we went to Obama for America–New York headquarters on Eighth...
The Strategy Behind “Voter Fraud”
Conservative “founding father” Paul Weyrich explains long lines in Ohio, Florida, etc. “Now many of our Christians have what I call the ‘goo-goo syndrome.’ Good government. They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a...
Fun in Philly: Getting Out the Vote, Door to Door
Volunteering Relieves Election Anxiety [cross-posted at Daily Kos] * Everyone knows the best cure for blues or worries is work. In the same way, the best antidote for election anxiety is volunteering and going door to door, making phone calls from a roomful of other...
Our Barack Is Back—and We’ve Got His Back
Clearly Obama President Obama listens as the human Etch A Sketch changes positions yet again during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, Oct. 16, 2012. * . . . when [Romney] said behind closed doors that 47 percent of the country considers themselves...
Republicans Against Medicare: A Long, Mean History
“. . . let’s be brutally honest here. The Romney-Ryan position on health care is that many millions of Americans must be denied health insurance, and millions more deprived of the security Medicare now provides, in order to save money. At the same time, of course, Mr....
No Core Beliefs: “The Most Dangerous Opponent”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPgfzknYd20 * “His legendary flip-flops aren’t the lies of a bumbling opportunist—they’re the confident prevarications of a man untroubled by misleading the nonbeliever in pursuit of a single, all-consuming goal. Romney has a vision,...
Reserved Professor Obama Misses Opportunities, and Slippery Romney Takes ’Em
Is President Overconfident? (He Shouldn’t Be.) We want to put down a few first impressions about last night’s first presidential debate before we look at what anyone else has said. Mitt Romney performed with more energy and desire to win than did President Obama....