Why the Founding Fathers Considered Banning Torture Foundational to the U.S. Constitution

Juan Cole / Truthdig Dec 9, 2014 For the most part, right wing principles are diametrically opposed to the Enlightenment and Deist values of most of the framers of the United States. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

2nd Amended

David Fitzsimmons, Cagle Cartoons, The Arizona Star May 27, 2014 Dig deeper

Boehner and the House GOP

John Cole, Cagle Cartoons, The Scranton Times-Tribune Jul 5, 2013 Dig deeper

Partisan Divide Fireworks Display

RJ Matson, Cagle Cartoons, Roll Call Jul 4, 2013 Dig deeper

Happy Fourth

Milt Priggee, Cagle Cartoons, www.miltpriggee.com Jul 4, 2013 Dig deeper

Gettysburg Regress

Christopher Weyant, Cagle Cartoons, The Hill Jul 4, 2013 Dig deeper

Freedom and ‘Our Sacred Honor’

E.J. Dionne Jr. / Truthdig Jul 4, 2013 We find ourselves, 237 years after the Founders declared us a new nation, in a season of discontent, even surliness, about the experiment they launched. We are sharply divided over the very meaning our founding documents, and we are more likely to invoke the word "we" in the context of "us" versus "them" than in the more capacious sense that includes every single American. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Politics of Debt in America

By Steve Fraser, TomDispatch Jan 31, 2013 In 2013, you can’t actually be jailed for not paying your bills, but ingenious corporations, collection agencies, cops, courts and lawyers have devised ways to ensure that debt “delinquents” will end up in jail anyway. With one-third of the states now allowing the jailing of debtors (without necessarily calling it that), it looks ever more like a trend in the making. Dig deeper ( 18 Min. Read )

Original Intent

Christopher Weyant, Cagle Cartoons, The Hill Jan 13, 2013 Dig deeper

Defining American Exceptionalism

Joe Conason / Truthdig Jul 9, 2012 The Founders did not regard their weak new republic as intrinsically superior or chosen by God to rule the world -- but argued instead that the ideals of popular sovereignty and constitutional freedom represented the natural rights and the future of humanity everywhere. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

They Didn’t Say It

Staff / Truthdig Aug 31, 2011 Coffee mugs, bumper stickers and posters displayed at political rallies nationwide bear the clumsy distortions of remarks made by thoughtful people throughout the ages. The question of their popularity and endurance has been the subject of a number of recent essays. (more) Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Without a Debt Deal, Obama Can Make the Rich Pay

Moshe Adler / Truthdig Jul 29, 2011 If the deficit remains unfunded, the president should withhold money from the enforcement and the support of laws that enrich the rich This would lead to higher wages for workers and lower prices for consumers, and it would help shield them from the cuts he wants to make in income security programs. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )