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'America is not a racist country'

“America is not a racist country.” This is quickly becoming a Republican mantra. Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, used it in his rebuttal to President Biden’s address to the Congress. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican weather vane, echoed him, as did Republicans across the country. Scott went on to accuse Democrats of dividing the country by using race as a “political weapon.”

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Party of Lincoln Wouldn't Recognize Trump's GOP

Last week, President Trump, in a rambling stump speech in Montana, bizarrely compared his oratory to that of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, arguing (incorrectly) that Lincoln was "ridiculed" for the speech.

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Why I Support Sen. Bernie Sanders

I am proud to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president of the United States. While I consider Joe Biden, his opponent for the Democratic Party nomination, a decent man, I stand with Bernie. Here is why.

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Democracy not a partisan issue

While the United States champions democracy across the world, our own democracy is under siege. Nothing is more fundamental to democracy than the right to vote – yet there is no explicit guarantee of the right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. ranks near the bottom of industrial democracies in voter turnout. This isn’t accidental – many states purposefully create barriers that make it difficult to register to vote or to cast a ballot. The sensible answer to this is to create — and enforce — the right to vote for every citizen.

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Let's Hope Trump Emerges From Crisis with New Awareness

I join those who pray for the full recovery of President Trump and the first lady. Whatever your politics or your religious beliefs, all of us should pray for the millions who have been afflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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We Must Not Be Bystanders When Darkness Descends

Thirteen pipe bombs were sent to two former presidents and other political and cultural leaders. In Kentucky, a white man shot and killed two elderly African-Americans at random in a Kroger grocery store, after failing to force his way into a black church. In Pittsburgh, in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history, a gunman walked into the Tree of Life synagogue and massacred 11 during Sabbath services.

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Trump's Racist Behavior Is Infamous and Longstanding

There he goes again. On Sunday, just before he headed off to his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, Donald Trump once more played the race card. It wasn't enough that he was terrorizing millions of undocumented fathers, mothers and children with the threat of sweeping raids, mass roundups and deportations.

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Georgia Voters Will Decide

On January 5, Georgia voters will decide the runoff for their two U.S. Senate seats. Their votes will determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate or whether Democrats gain a 50-50 tie, with Vice President Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote. The race is a microcosm of America's struggle to find a way forward and of Georgia and the South's struggle to build a new South.

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Our Most Vulnerable Live in Poverty

Our news is driven by scandal, crisis, and tragedy. A bridge falls in Florida. Trump insults someone in a tweet. Stormy Daniels sues the president, and his lawyers file motions against her. Facebook allows the personal data of 50 million people to be used without their knowledge. And so on.

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Prayers and Condolences Are Not Enough

The horrifying and heartbreaking news of the domestic terrorist attacks in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, in less than 24 hours over the weekend reached me while I was in Poland, a country haunted by the deadly power of politically irresponsible and racist rhetoric.

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Trump Doesn't Understand What Makes America Truly Great

"I am not a racist," Donald Trump found it necessary to reassure Americans. It was a revealing echo of when Richard Nixon told us, "I'm not a crook."

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We Can't Afford to Let Hate and Lies Win Again

When Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old white teenager opened fire on shoppers in the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday, he knew exactly who he was aiming at - African Americans. Ten were murdered and three wounded in the attack, 11 of the victims were Black.

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Donald Trump, Again, Fails to Lead

Donald Trump's ignorance and incompetence have cost American lives in the pandemic. Now his failure of leadership will add to the misery of millions of Americans force onto unemployment, the hunger of children at risk, the homelessness of families facing eviction. At a time when bold action is imperative, the president offers posturing and gestures. Having failed to produce a deal on a much needed rescue program, he issues a showtime executive order and series of memoranda that will do more to foster confusion than to aid those in distress.

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The People of the Nation Have Spoken

"The people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory. ... We have won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation."

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A Job for All

A job for all. Everyone ready and able to work will get a job – a good job that pays enough to bring a family above the poverty line –guaranteed by the federal government. At a time when our political leaders seem more intent on driving us apart rather than bringing us together, a federally guaranteed jobs program is an idea bold enough to break through the muck.

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SCOTUS Nomination Is An Insult to All Ginsburg Stood For

Upon the untimely death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Donald Trump promised to name "a woman" to fill her seat, as if the sum of Ginsburg's identity was her gender. In fact, the woman that Trump has nominated -- Amy Coney Barrett -- is an insult to all that Ginsburg stood for.

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We Must Continually Fight to Carry On King's Work

The 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination comes amid a fierce struggle for the soul of America.

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John Lewis, a founding father of American democracy

When John Lewis left us, editorials and columns paid tribute to his leadership, his courage, his moral example. The praise was well deserved. A broader context helps understand his true contribution.

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'Have you no sense of decency, sir?'

Texas is suffering from record high temperatures, with heat indexes topping a staggering 120 degrees.

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Leonard Pitts Jr.: Ignorance is Death

We live in ignorant times. By now, surely this is obvious beyond argument to anyone who's been paying attention. From the Capitol insurrectionist who thought he was storming the White House to Sen. Tim Scott's claim that "woke supremacy is as bad as white supremacy" to whatever thing Tucker Carlson last said, ignorance is ascendant.