You have to go back a long, long way in American history before you come to a place where you find incidents like this happening an average of once every two weeks.This escalating level of violence is adding data points to a potentially emergent pattern that we need to be looking at and preparing for. So far, there are at least five things I'm particularly concerned about.... read more »
There's an appalling (though, sadly, hardly surprising) amount of conservative myth-making going on around the very serious issue of right-wing domestic terrorism. They've come up repeatedly in talk shows and online forums, so you're likely to encounter them as well. Here's what you need to separate fact from fiction when the talking points start flying. ... read more »
Hard-core haters resolutely dismiss any “mainstream media” debunking of their conspiracy theories. The only voices that might penetrate their alternative reality &38212; I emphasize might — belong to conservative leaders with the guts and clout to step up. Where are they?... read more »
Conservative government during the past few years has failed—even some conservatives acknowledge that. But the problem is not just that conservatism has failed to live up to its promise; it is that conservatism cannot live up to its promiseread more »
Inherent ideological flaws cripple the ability of conservatives to govern:
Here are some basic facts behind our call for "real investment" in people, assembled from recent government and private studies. We've fallen behind as a nation, but making the right spending choices will yield lasting dividends.read more »
Financial institutions went on a binge; the cops on the street turned a blind eye. The bankers pocketed billions until the housing bubble burst. Americans are now paying dearly for the folly. Here are some facts you need to know and some ideas for change.read more »
Democrats have some thinking to do after Tuesday's elections, but Republicans don't have time to think. They're too busy trying to survive the party's internal purge and avoid being shipped off to political Siberia.read more »
The anti-health care reform rally in Washington indicates the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement are increasingly one and the same.read more »
House Republicans have presented a health care reform "plan" that doesn't fix our broken health care system (but might make it worse), and (according to the CBO) doesn't do much to fix the deficit conservatives say t read more »
Mike Elk couldn't have been more right in his thinking about what Martin Luther King, Jr. would have thought of the Teabaggers, Birthers, etc. He would have seen that those faces that at first glance seem twisted in anger are really twisted in pain. He would recognize those faces as well as the source of the fear and anger distorting them.
It's not about adopting their politics, compromising our own, or even tolerating their tactics. It's about reclaiming "We" — The same "We" that Dr. King and civil rights workers sang about, and that I remember singing about myself in church, on the occasions when we sang "We Shall Overcome."
Commentators, including our own Sara Robinson and author Neal Gabler, have observed a resurgent brand of conservatism that has taken on the characteristics of religious zealotry. read more »
This is already being done by plenty of other people, but I can't help myself. When a guy who just a month ago said "We need segregated buses," takes umbrage at the notion that people think he's a racist... Well, it's just too hard to resist.
They are the ones with prejudice and bigotry coursing through their vanes [sic], through their hearts, and through their souls. They are consumed with jealousy and rage. They are all liberals--and make no mistake: That's what this is about. It is about ideology. It isn't about race. It's about their being jealous and attempting to discredit me, and they've now sunk to the low of repeating fabricated quotes that they cannot source.... These people are scum.
Yeah. Sure, Rush.
read more »Wow. Break out the spatulas, and get ready to scrape the exploded brains of right-wingers off the ceiling, walls, etc. Apparently, President Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
US President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Committee said he won it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".
The committee highlighted Mr Obama's efforts to support international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament.
Mr Obama's spokesman said the president was "humbled" to have won the prize. He said he woke Mr Obama up when he called with the news early on Friday.
There were a record 205 nominations for this year's peace prize. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Chinese dissident Hu Jia had been among the favourites.
The laureate - chosen by a five-member committee - wins a gold medal, a diploma and 10m Swedish kronor ($1.4m).
It's a surprise, but I think I understand why the committee made this choice: You create a lot more goodwill among people when your foreign policy message is something besides, "It's our world, and the rest of you are just livin' in it."
read more »Glenn Beck has captured national attention with his caustic poison. The aging right-wing troubadours -- Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly—still rouse the wingnuts and enforce discipline among Republican legislators. They've peddled the fantasies about ACORN and the all-powerful poverty lobby, and launched a search-and-destroy hunt for targets of opportunity in the Obama administration. read more »
For six years the Campaign for America's Future organized the annual Take Back America conference, the largest annual gathering of progressives in the country. read more »
In the previous post, I included a quote from Franklin Roosevelt's Second Inaugural Address.
We are determined to make every American citizen the subject of his country's interest and concern; and we will never regard any faithful law-abiding group within our borders as superfluous. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
It was a short quote, only because I couldn't very well quote the entire speech. I wanted to, because so much in it speaks directly to where we stand today, the kind of country we want to be, and the choices that will lead us closer to that goal — or farther from it.
read more »
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