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A Question of Justice
In 1838, in a shameful chapter of American history, U.S. forces under Gen. Winfield Scott forced tens of thousands of Cherokee Indians - one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" that had embraced the customs and language of white settlers - to march 1,200 miles to what was designated "Indian Territory" across the Mississippi (centered in what is now Oklahoma). Their lands were confiscated; their homes looted. Along what became known as the Trail of Tears, whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, and starvation took a deadly toll, with an estimated one-quarter of the Cherokee people perishing along the way.
Federal Reserve Determined to Stop Growth
Jobs are back so workers have a target on their backs. The Labor Department reports the economy produced 263,000 jobs in September. After losing an unimaginable 22 million jobs in the first two months of COVID as the economy shut down under Donald Trump, we've now gained all those jobs back and then some. Wages have even begun to inch upwards.
Clarence Page: Against AI, political punditry can still do the write thing
Striking Hollywood writers are nervous about artificial intelligence ā also known as AI ā and Iām not feeling so good myself.
An Unconscionable Republican Health Care Bill
How devastating would the Republican health care legislation be if enacted? Leighton Ku, a leading health care expert and director of director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, told NBC that, based on the Republican House bill, cuts in funding for Medicaid and health subsidies would trigger "sharp job losses and a broad disruption of state economies."
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.
Civil Rights Will Suffer Under Sessions
Donald Trump's first three weeks in office have left Americans reeling from what Republican speechwriter Peggy Noonan called his "cloud of crazy." His cabinet nominees seem intentionally perverse: an education secretary who has no clue about public schools; an energy secretary who wanted to eliminate the department; a treasury secretary from Goldman Sachs who ran a home foreclosure factory.
A Tale of Two Cities: Selma and Shelby County
In "A Tale of Two Cities," Charles Dickens contrasted the plight of the poor in France with the lavish wealth of the aristocracy, the city of need with the city of greed. That harsh exploitation eventually erupted in the French Revolution, and the brutal revenge of the revolutionaries on their former oppressors.
Trump Has No Coherent Plan to Make Health Care Affordable
What is this year's midterm election about? President Trump wants it to be about him, stumping the country saying that he's on the ballot. Or that it's about immigrants, or Justice Brett Kavanaugh, or tax cuts, or about hurricanes, droughts and catastrophic climate change, or about an economy featuring low unemployment and stagnant wages. In fact, what is notable about the election amid all the mudslinging and name-calling is that voters are making it increasingly about health care.
Today Alabama Chooses Between Its Past and Its Future
"The state of Alabama deserves better," said Richard Shelby, the senior U.S. senator from Alabama, in explaining why he chose not to vote for Roy Moore, his party's nominee in Alabama's special election for the Senate today.
Assault On Right to Vote Comes From Home-grown Reactionaries
This past weekend, we once again gathered in Selma, Ala., to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," the March 7, 1965, march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that was savagely put down by police.
Trump Is Distorting NFL Players' Messages
As teams gear up for the NFL season, President Trump is reviving his destructive and diversionary attacks aimed at turning fans against players.
Gov. Northam Would Be Wise to Step Down
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has admitted that he blackened his face as part of a Michael Jackson costume for a dance party. He also initially admitted that he was one of the participants in a racist photo -- of one person dressed in full Klan regalia and another in blackface --that appeared on his 1984 yearbook page.
Trump Doesn't Want Immigration Solution; He Needs Issue to Divide Us
"Yes, if we don't get what we want, one way or the other ... I will shut down the government," said President Trump to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, referring to his demand for $5 billion to build his border wall.
GOP, Not Russia, the Greater Threat to Free Elections
We all have heard about WikiLeaks and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has once more put that on the front pages. Too often lost in the furor, however, is the far more damaging TrikiLeaks -- the tricks and laws used to suppress the vote by partisans, largely Republicans here at home.
Trump's Flailing Indicates a Man In Serious Trouble
Since the striking victories of Democrats up and down the ballot in 2018, President Trump has been flailing more and more wildly.
To Choose Not to Vote Is to Surrender Self-determination
Today is an election day in many parts of America. There are key gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. A single special election in a suburban Seattle district could win Democrats control of the Washington Senate and thus control of the entire state government. Charlotte, N.C., could elect the first black female mayor ever. A record 43 women are vying for seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. Voters in Maine will decide whether to extend Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
Has America Come Any Closer to King's Dream?
Last weekend marked the 53d anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. Over half a century. Has America come any closer to his dream?
The New Jim Crow
In Georgia, Donald Trump's big lie that the election was stolen has now been turned into bad law -- an election law designed to make it harder for minorities and the young to vote. This is, as President Joe Biden stated, the new Jim Crow a blatant attempt by Republicans to suppress votes so they can hold onto power.
It Is Time for Congress to Act to Defend Free Elections
Jan. 6, 2022 marks one year since the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, incited by a president voted out of office by the vast majority of the American people. What is now clear is that Donald Trump and his tong of zealous aides and complicitous right-wing legislators were deadly serious about overturning the results of that vote and keeping Trump in office. They failed but have since launched a systematic campaign in states across the country to make it possible to succeed the next time.
More Than Obama's Legacy at Stake in ACA Repeal
President Obama returns to sweet home Chicago Tuesday night to say farewell to the nation. It will be an evening of joy, tears and pride in a job well done, despite the harsh headwinds of resistance he faced every day for eight years.

