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Harvey, Noah and The Floods
It is too soon to know the extent of the damage done by Hurricane Harvey. Estimates are that over a million people have been displaced. As I write this, 49 are feared dead -- a number that will continue to climb. The governor of Texas estimated that his state will need "far in excess" of $125 billion in federal funding to help rebuild. Harvey broke the U.S. record for rainfall from a single storm. Houston, the fourth largest city in America, was hit with 50 inches of rain.
Anniversary of Selma Reminds Us of How Democracy Is Defended
Politicians for both parties loudly praise the courage of Ukrainians defending their democracy from the Russian invasion. Yet, bipartisan defense of democracy disappears when the question is democracy at home. March 7 marked the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when the police attack of a peaceful march of Blacks seeking the right to vote in Selma, Alabama, stirred the outrage that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act. Today the right to vote is once more in question.
Guns and the democrat's replacement theory
It happened again. This time it was a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, of 19 second-, third- and fourth -grade students, along with two teachers, killed by a teenager who had just turned 18 and bought himself a gift of two high-powered military weapons designed to kill people in war and 375 rounds of ammunition for $3,500, which he used to shoot down his mostly young victims like rabid dogs.
Now Is the Time for Citizens of Conscience to Act
Racism is not natural. Babies -- black, brown, white -- explore the world and each other with wonder, not hate. Racism has to be taught. It is learned behavior. To assume that a person is inherently superior or inferior to another based upon race is unnatural and ungodly. Racism is used for political manipulation and economic exploitation. In a land founded on the belief that all men are created equal, slavery could not be justified without a racism that depicted slaves as sub-human.
The Fraudulent 'voter fraud' Commission
There's a branch in philosophy called epistemology that deals with the theory of knowledge. How do we know what we know? How do we know what is true? What is believable? And what are the criteria we use to tell whether something is true or not? Considering his constant refrain of "fake news," maybe President Donald Trump should enroll in such a course.
America's Greatest Athletes Are Standing Up, Calling This Country to Change
The greatest athletes in America are standing up for justice at a critical time. Despite unprecedented, multiracial demonstrations across the country protesting police violence against African Americans, the horrors keep on coming. Last week, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a policeman in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As the anger has grown, some of the protests have been marred by vandalism and looting. Now armed right-wing militia groups are escalating the tensions. In Kenosha, two demonstrators were murdered and one wounded by a 17-year-old Trump supporter illegally wielding an assault weapon.
President Trump's War On the Poor
Donald Trump is famed for his head snapping reversals. One day he's taking troops out of the Middle East; the next he's sending more in. One day he's on the verge of an agreement with China on trade; the next he's tweeting about holding off until after the election.
Venezuela Needs a Helping Hand, Not a Hammer Blow
If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. The United States has a big hammer: the military, plus the intelligence community's covert intervention forces. So we are dropping bombs from drones in seven countries.
Democracy Is In Retreat
For all the talk about the national debt and the fiscal deficit, what truly threatens America is a dangerous and growing democracy deficit. This country presents itself as the champion of democracy against authoritarianism across the world, but at home, democracy is in retreat in areas vital to our lives. Consider.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a tenacious advocate for equality
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- the Notorious RBG -- was a tenacious advocate for equality. The outpouring of grief across the nation is testament to her commitment. She deserves to be honored and celebrated. The assertion of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell that they will rush to nominate a justice intent on dismantling her legacy is both shameless and poisonous. Shameless because it exposes once more that they care only about power, not about the law or legitimacy. Poisonous because it uses the death of a justice famed for consensus-building to deepen the nation's toxic divisions.
Obama vs. Trump: A Story of Decline and Hope for Renewal
Donald Trump began his presidency with an inaugural address that denounced the "carnage" that had preceded him. He vowed to Make America Great Again, and set about systematically trying to deep-six virtually everything that his predecessor Barack Obama had accomplished.
How We See the Past Reflects How We Live In the Present
Our history involves both hard facts and interpretation – the context in which the hard facts are presented. Interpretation inevitably is political and contested. How we see the past reflects how we live in the present and what we hope for in the future.
Trump Trains His Sights On Affirmative Action
Campaigning for the presidency, Donald Trump argued that blacks and other people of color should vote for him. Given their current conditions, he argued, "What the hell do you have to lose?" Since winning election, however, Trump seems intent on proving over and over again just how much African-Americans and other minorities have to lose.
Health Care Is a Human Right
Who is going to pay for this? For months that question was used as a weapon against supporters of Medicare for All. Now, it is on everyone's mind as they worry about the costs of the testing and treatment for the coronavirus. The virus is highly contagious. We need everyone with symptoms to get tested and all with the virus to get treatment. If anyone hesitates because they fear they can't afford the cost, they put the rest of us at risk. No one should be worried about the costs of treatment.
A New Alabama Is Emerging, And Doug Jones May Ride It to Victory
Can Doug Jones, a Democrat, win a Senate seat in Alabama when voters go to the polls in a special election on December 12?
We Must Rescue And Rebuild Puerto Rico
What obligations do we owe one to another as Americans? What does patriotism and citizenship mean in practice? Hurricane Maria's devastation of Puerto Rico has posed these questions. Americans should be dissatisfied with the way our federal government has responded.
Trump's 'New Deal for Blacks' Was Dealt From the Bottom of the Deck
African-American unemployment has reached its lowest levels ever. President Donald Trump boasts about this on the stump, naturally claiming credit for a recovery that began after his predecessor, Barack Obama, saved an economy that was in free fall. Trump says he's delivering on his promised "new deal for blacks." Don't fall for the hype.
Assault weapons are weapons of war
In the United States, 20 million assault rifles are in private hands, and nearly 400 million guns of all sorts. In the first 190 days of this year, Americans have suffered 320 mass shootings, more than one a day. Highland Park, Illinois, Uvalde, Texas, Chattanooga, Tennessee – the list is endless. Sixty-two people were shot and 10 killed in Chicago on the same holiday weekend that the Highland Park massacre took place, without garnering nearly as much attention.
Sessions Will Be a Disaster If Confirmed As Attorney General
Confirmation hearings for Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, named by Donald Trump to be attorney general of the United States, will begin on Jan. 10, before Trump is even inaugurated. The rush and insistence on only two days of hearings reflect Republican efforts to cram the nomination through before Americans understand what is at stake.
It's Time for Our Leaders to Act
We live in a time of bitter divisions. Today, even the wearing of masks has become a partisan question. Yet, as Memorial Day reminds us, this country has united before to meet external threats. The calamity that has been wrought by the coronavirus is the result of an external attack - this time by a virus rather than an armed enemy. It too should be a time of national unity, of rallying together to share the sacrifices, to help one another through the crisis, and to rebuild the country afterwards.
