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May 22, 2013

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AP/LM Otero

Texas Blast Exposes the New Normal

If I told you that government officials possessed ironclad proof that an imminent threat to this nation had the capacity to create a 9/11’s worth of injuries and deaths every year at an annual economic cost of a quarter trillion dollars, ask yourself: Would you say we should do something about it?

Posted on May 16, 2013 READ MORE



U.S. Marine Corps./Gunnery Sgt. Michael Kropiewnicki

The Military’s 40-Year Experiment

On June 30, 1973, a 24-year-old plumber’s apprentice became the last American forced into the armed services before the military draft expired.

Posted on May 10, 2013 READ MORE



Shutterstock photo of climate change city.

The Real Obstacle to Halting Climate Change

In case you missed the news, humanity just spent the Earth Day week reaching another sad milestone in the history of catastrophic climate change.

Posted on May 3, 2013 READ MORE


A Cronkite Moment for the Blowback Era

You are not allowed to honestly discuss the Central Intelligence Agency’s concept of “blowback” without putting yourself at risk of being deemed a traitor to country.

Posted on Apr 26, 2013 READ MORE



Shutterstock photo of Boston.

Catastrophe and the Value of Silence

After an explosion like those in Boston, it is indeed hard to hear one’s own internal monologue, much less meditate on such horrific events.

Posted on Apr 19, 2013 READ MORE



Shutterstock/Supreme Court building

The Supreme Court’s Radical New Precedent

Out of all the newsworthy comments during this week’s Supreme Court debate over the legality of same-sex marriage bans, none was more revealing—or troubling—than that which came from Justice Sonya Sotomayor.

Posted on Mar 29, 2013 READ MORE


Call It What It Is: A Class War

The Republican budget endorses an economic war waged by the upper class against everyone else.

Posted on Mar 22, 2013 READ MORE



Kyle May (CC-BY)

The U.N. Needs to Sober Up

An international body immersed in one drug (alcohol) yet telling governments to outlaw an objectively less harmful drug (marijuana) is biting comedy.

Posted on Mar 14, 2013 READ MORE


An Unrepresentative Democracy

Why are ideas widely supported in most of the country so often portrayed as controversial, polarizing and divisive once they are taken up by legislatures?

Posted on Mar 8, 2013 READ MORE


Mental Health: Time to Stop White-Knuckling It

As anyone who has ever experienced a panic attack well knows, one of the most difficult aspects of managing anxiety disorders is having to do it in secret for fear of being labeled a freak.

Posted on Mar 1, 2013 READ MORE


Two 2016 Prospects Spotlight Democrats’ Identity Crisis

Despite its success in recent elections, and despite the image of unity it projects, the Democratic Party is in the throes of an epic identity crisis pitting its corporate money against its stated principles.

Posted on Feb 22, 2013 READ MORE


The Blind Theology of Militarism

In my years reporting on the intentional narrowing of political vernacular to guarantee specific outcomes, I have encountered no better example of Orwellian newspeak than that which now dominates the conversation about America’s drone war.

Posted on Feb 15, 2013 READ MORE



U.S. Navy/MC1 Kenneth G. Takada

The President of Perpetual War

Four years into his presidency, Barack Obama’s political formula should be obvious.

Posted on Jan 25, 2013 READ MORE


The Second Amendment vs. the First Amendment

After more than a week of residual buzz from radio host Alex Jones’ now-famous meltdown during a CNN discussion of gun control, it is worth taking a deep breath and considering the spectacle’s two big lessons, especially now that the White House is pushing Congress to debate firearm legislation.

Posted on Jan 18, 2013 READ MORE


How to Reach the Last 20 Percent

There’s a big reason climate change differs from so many public policy challenges: Unlike other crises, addressing the planet’s major environmental crisis truly requires mass consensus.

Posted on Jan 11, 2013 READ MORE


The Truth Behind the Fiscal Cliff’s Reality TV Show

During the halcyon 1990s, we labeled annual congressional temper tantrums for what they were: standard, if boring, budget impasses.

Posted on Jan 4, 2013 READ MORE


Coaches Over the Common Good

This is the microcosmic lesson of the University of Colorado’s recent decision to pay a new football coach $2 million a year. The move - and the reaction to it - is a perfect illustration of America’s values, or lack thereof.

Posted on Dec 21, 2012 READ MORE


Homeownership Support Shouldn’t Be a Mansion Subsidy

With Congress finally starting to have a serious conversation about our revenue crisis, there are obvious reasons to limit the amount of mortgage interest that Americans can deduct from their taxable income.

Posted on Dec 13, 2012 READ MORE


A Picture Worth Far More Than 1,000 Words

To publish or not to publish? That was the debate in media circles this week after the New York Post printed a horrifying photo of a man named Ki Suk Han who had been pushed onto the subway tracks and was trying to avoid getting hit by a train.

Posted on Dec 6, 2012 READ MORE



Torben Hansen (CC-BY)

Ending the Drug War: The Next Serious Step Through the Haze of Comedy

What’s next? Amid all the munchie-themed jokes from reporters, political elites and late-night comedians, this remains the overarching question after Coloradans voted overwhelmingly to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana in the same way alcohol is already legalized, regulated and taxed.

Posted on Nov 15, 2012 READ MORE


The Post-Election Politics of the Revolving Door

There are two types of money that corrupt our politics. After a national election that cost more than $2 billion, most of us know about the blatant kind.

Posted on Nov 9, 2012 READ MORE


A Republican’s Rare Chance to Be a Real Leader

New Jersey’s Republican Gov. Chris Christie is a potentially more important political figure than anyone running for the White House.

Posted on Nov 2, 2012 READ MORE


In Defense of the Undecided Voter

A confession: I recently received my Colorado ballot but, even though my state will play a key role in the presidential election, I still haven’t voted.

Posted on Oct 25, 2012 READ MORE


Two Old Names, One Lesson About Money

The two names that best explain money’s unprecedented political influence in America are not Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but Montgomery Brewster and Ross Perot.

Posted on Oct 21, 2012 READ MORE


A GOP Shift on Taxes?

When it comes to tax policy, Mitt Romney is not merely a spinner, an equivocator or a run-of-the-mill dissembler. He’s a liar.

Posted on Oct 11, 2012 READ MORE


Debating Social Security: If Not Now, When?

If we can’t have a debate about Social Security before we make a presidential choice, at what point can we ever have such a debate in a way that honors our democratic ideals?

Posted on Oct 4, 2012 READ MORE


The Choice Between Automatons and Leaders

Ask corporate executives what they really want in a legislator, and they probably won’t use words like “principled” or “well-informed.”

Posted on Sep 27, 2012 READ MORE


Drug Dealers Protecting Their Turf

Colorado is the frontline in the war on marijuana. Will voters trust that their beer-mogul-turned-governor is actually worried about health and children?

Posted on Sep 21, 2012 READ MORE


Big Brother in Your Car

Your chipper TV friend Flo, otherwise known as Progressive Insurance’s ubiquitous shill, wants you to be excited—very excited.

Posted on Sep 6, 2012 READ MORE


The Climate Bites Back

As a wildfire/flash flood cycle ravages the American heartland, “the climate bites back” may be the 21st century’s karmic rejoinder to the hysterical screams of “freedom!” and “property rights!” when it comes to urban sprawl.

Posted on Aug 31, 2012 READ MORE


From Greenwashing to Workerwashing

It seems no matter the arena, the most cliched move in corporate and political combat is to co-opt an opponent’s message, expecting nobody to notice or care.

Posted on Aug 24, 2012 READ MORE


Who Is Paul Ryan?

Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan admires Ayn Rand, and if you believe Republican Party mythology, Ryan is a messianic John Galt who will save America from a secret socialist conspiracy.

Posted on Aug 17, 2012 READ MORE


Congressional Carnivores Rage Over ‘Meatless Monday’

America is suffering through the worst drought since 1950, so taking one day a week off from meat-eating seems like the absolute least we should be willing to do.

Posted on Aug 3, 2012 READ MORE


Gold Medalists in Fake Outrage

Many of the same legislators criticizing American athletes’ uniforms for being made in China supported (and continue to support) the tariff-free trade policies that eviscerated the domestic textile industry.

Posted on Jul 27, 2012 READ MORE


‘Debate’ Over Taxes? Read On

Contrary to popular belief, even Barack Obama would give the wealthy a tax break. It’s a question of giving each of those households the equivalent salary of one butler (Obama’s plan) or three butlers (Romney’s plan).

Posted on Jul 20, 2012 READ MORE


The Logic of Willful Ignorance

A recent study from Xavier University tells us what many already know: that many Americans have wholly tuned out of politics to the point where they can’t even correctly answer the most basic questions about our government.

Posted on Jul 6, 2012 READ MORE


A New Standard for Oxymoronic Newspeak

As Wired’s Spencer Ackerman reports, “Surveillance experts at the National Security Agency won’t tell two powerful United States Senators how many Americans have had their communications picked up by the agency [because] it would violate your privacy to say so.”

Posted on Jun 28, 2012 READ MORE


Don’t Fall for Corporate Blackmail

They may balk at regulation, but unlike textile or electronics firms, fossil fuel companies are extracting a resource that is relatively rare, altogether finite and—most important—tied to specific geographies.

Posted on Jun 21, 2012 READ MORE



Photo by (CC-BY-SA)

The Revolutionaries Feeding the Obesity Crisis

With the three meals hitting their caloric max-out point, Yum! Brands has been leading the effort to add a whole new gorging session to America’s daily schedule.

Posted on Jun 17, 2012 READ MORE


The War on Whistle-Blowers

You would think that even the most flaccid, rubber-stamp Congress might ask a few questions about the president’s “kill list,” but Congress is instead focused on making sure those who blew the whistle on it are punished.

Posted on Jun 7, 2012 READ MORE



The Legend of the Spat-Upon Veteran

Desperate to cobble a pro-war cautionary tale out of a blood-soaked tragedy, we keep reimagining the loss in Vietnam not as a policy failure but as the product of an America that dishonored returning troops.

Posted on May 31, 2012 READ MORE


A Rare Admission That Money Trumps Everything Else

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is using his power to undermine a popular proposal to increase the minimum wage.

Posted on May 25, 2012 READ MORE


Yes, We Can Walk and Chew Gum

Republicans now insist that America cannot simultaneously walk the walk on equal rights and also chew economic gum.

Posted on May 18, 2012 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS


Our Guns-and-Butter Economy

There are troubling consequences that come from the particular kind of export economy we’re building.

Posted on May 10, 2012 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS



(CC-BY)

Property Rights in the Cloud

In the Information Age, you should be thinking about your computer—and asking, how much of you is really yours?

Posted on May 4, 2012 READ MORE  |  2 COMMENTS


The Politics of Sight

Would Americans eat less meat, and would animals be treated more humanely, if slaughterhouses were made with glass walls and we all could see the monstrous killing apparatus at work?

Posted on Apr 26, 2012 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS


Contradiction Where Religion and American Politics Meet

Here’s a newspaper headline that might induce a disbelieving double take: “Christians ‘More Likely to Be Leftwing’ And Have Liberal Views on Immigration and Equality.”

Posted on Apr 20, 2012 READ MORE  |  97 COMMENTS


The End of ‘Shut Up and Play’

As high-profile events periodically prove, politics and athletics have long had a love-hate relationship.

Posted on Apr 12, 2012 READ MORE  |  9 COMMENTS


Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need New Roads

Instead of beefing up public transit, cities build neighborhood-destroying highways, cars fill up those highways, cities then build more highways to alleviate traffic, and then yet more cars flood the roads, creating even more traffic.

Posted on Apr 5, 2012 READ MORE  |  31 COMMENTS


Charter Schools Are Not the Silver Bullet

In recent years, major studies suggest that, on the whole, charter schools are producing worse educational achievement results than traditional public schools.

Posted on Mar 23, 2012 READ MORE  |  14 COMMENTS


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A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
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