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Simple justice: The Tulsa Massacre, Restitution and Reparations
On its 100th anniversary, the 1921 massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma has finally come to national attention. The history of the massacre is now known. The damage inflicted clear. The question is what is to be done to repair the damage?
Sen. Manchin Has a Chance to Make History and Benefit His State
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin stands at the bridge. He has immense influence - virtually a veto - on whether and how this country makes progress in the Biden administration.
Right to register and vote is not a partisan issue
The right to vote, Dr. Martin Luther King taught in his famous “Give Us the Ballot” address, is one of the “highest mandates of our democratic tradition.” Democracy is founded on the right of citizens to decide via popular, free and fair elections who should represent them. Across the world, the U.S. champions democracy. Yet at home the right to vote is embattled.
Blacks Won't Fall for Trump's Big Con
If a lie is repeated often enough, the truth may never catch up. Donald Trump understands this better than anyone, as he showers Americans with lies -- often the same ones repeated over and over -- knowing that more voters will hear him than the fact-checkers. One of his favorite howlers is his oft-repeated claim that "I've done more for African Americans than anybody, except for the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln." No one should fall for the con.
Democracy is on the ballot
Tuesday, Nov. 8, is Election Day. Television and social media are plastered wall to wall with political attack ads that offer voters far more heat than light. We hear more about blame than about solutions. The noise distracts from the reality: real issues are at stake in the election.
Trump's Ridiculous Cuba Reversal
In his perverse fixation on overturning all things Obama, Donald Trump now turns his attention to Cuba, the island located 90 miles off our shores. Reports are that the President plans to travel to Florida to announce that he will reverse Obama's opening to Cuba, reinstate restrictions on the right of U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba and curtail business opportunities that Obama had opened up by executive order.
Why Should Iowa Always Be First?
Today, after more than a year of campaigning, debates, polls, fund-raising and ads, voters cast their first votes in the Iowa caucuses. Iowa is always first because it demands that it be first, but no matter who wins, this profoundly distorts the race.
Sadly, NCAA Players Have to Be the Adults In the Room
How many lives of young men and women should be sacrificed for entertainment - and for billions in profit? That question can't be ducked as the NCAA allows colleges to begin "voluntary" football practices, and other college teams begin to practice.
Reform and The Moral Center
"Too radical, impractical, too costly, impossible, can't pass the Senate." Those are the terms centrist Democrats use to describe the bold reform ideas put forth by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic presidential primaries. "Venezuela, socialist, communist tripe, crazy" are the jibes preferred by Donald Trump and Republicans. All this begs the same question: What do they plan to do to meet the challenges we face?
'Equal Pay, Equal Pay, Equal Pay'
As the exhausted and thrilled U.S. women's soccer team celebrated its victory in the finals of the 2019 Women's World Cup, the cheers of the crowd in the Stade of Lyon soon turned into a chant: "Equal Pay, Equal Pay, Equal Pay." Even as they fought their way to the fourth U.S. Women World Cup championship, the U.S. team were waging a battle -- in the court of public opinion and the courts of law -- for equal treatment in wages, working conditions and investment in the women's game. And if there is any justice or common sense in their employer, U.S. Soccer, they will be as victorious in the quest for equal pay as they were in their quest for the World Cup.
Time to Strike a Blow Against Hate
Now Americans get to decide. Our democracy is corrupted by big money, scarred by efforts to suppress the vote or to gerrymander districts and stained by scurrilous campaigning, led in this instance from the president himself.
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."
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.
There Is No Market for Trump's Values
Candidates say campaigns are about articulating programs, issues and priorities. But people vote for candidates based on how that person makes them feel. Consciously or unconsciously, elections are about giving voice to values.
The Myths and Lies About Poverty
"The poor will always be with us," say the cynics. No doubt, some will always be wealthier than others. We wouldn't want to live in a society that forced all to be equal. But poverty isn't inevitable. The 30 million people in America who lived in poverty even before the pandemic when unemployment was at record lows needn't exist in that state.
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.
We Don't Need the President's Thugs in Chicago
"Hitler had his Brown shirts and Mussolini had his Black shirts, now Donald Trump has his camouflage shirts." Thus began a statement signed by 15 distinguished interdenominational religious leaders in Chicago that I joined, including ministers, priests, and rabbis.
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.
It's the Substance, Not the Label That Counts
After Nevada, Bernie Sanders is now the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race. In South Carolina, the next primary, former Vice President Joe Biden is the favorite, buoyed by his support among African American voters. Sanders will come into the state with real momentum, having won the popular vote in each of the first three contests.
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.
