The last 10 days or so have left Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade, in damage-control mode as he tries to distance himself from an incendiary, racially charged anti-Barack Obama ad campaign that would have featured the president's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. After two or three news cycles in … More »OBAMA'S SPENDTHRIFT REPUTATION IS NOT SUPPORTED BY FACTS
It's that long-anticipated season for college seniors and their families.Having completed four -- or five or six -- years of studies, students will don caps and gowns, march into an assembly and listen to a speaker exhort them to go forth and change the world. Then, having received that magical document, … More »ROMNEY DOESN'T SEE LINK BETWEEN COLLEGE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
In the contentious debate surrounding gay marriage, a couple of conservative talking points stand out for their irrationality. One of those is the notion that allowing same-sex couples to marry would represent a gross usurpation of religious freedom.Like the equally ridiculous idea that homosexual marriage … More »MARRIAGE IS CIVIL RIGHT AS WELL AS RELIGIOUS SACRAMENT
Having grown up Baptist in Alabama, I've always been cynical about conservative Christians' fervent opposition to Roe v. Wade. I don't doubt that religious devotion can lead to skepticism -- even fierce criticism -- of abortion rights. But those same religious principles should lead to efforts to boost … More »FANATIC ANTI-ABORTIONISTS DON'T FEEL MUCH PASSION FOR KIDS
The U.S. Supreme Court seems inclined to back at least a portion of Arizona's xenophobic immigration law, which countenances racial profiling. Even Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a member of the court's liberal wing and its first Hispanic, signaled to the Obama administration, which has opposed the law, that … More »PUNITIVE IMMIGRATION LAWS SEEM LIKELY TO EXPAND
Poor people are useful during political season.Politicians offer up the impoverished to distract from the myriad problems for which their platforms propose no workable solutions: Is the treasury awash in red ink? Are there too many demands on a shrinking government purse? Then let's tighten up on largesse … More »WHEN IN NEED OF POLITICAL DISTRACTION, BASH THE POOR
I came to this motherhood business late, after my friends' children were all off to college. My energy, heaven knows, is limited but my resources more plentiful than they would have been had I adopted a child 20 years ago rather than three years ago.After a long career in the newspaper business -- and … More »LACK OF INCOME AND EDUCATION MAKE FOR HARRIED MOMS
It has been 46 years -- nearly a half-century -- since Charles Whitman, a troubled ex-Marine, climbed atop the iconic University of Texas Tower to use it as a staging zone for a shooting spree. He killed 16 people on and around the campus, including his wife and mother.The nation, while sobered by a … More »AMERICA'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH FIREARMS IS NATIONAL INSANITY
For a brief and wondrous moment, America engaged in something akin to a lucid and thoughtful conversation on race, a dialogue sparked by the tragic and unjust killing of Trayvon Martin. Across lines of color, class and political ideology, commentators and ordinary citizens weighed in on the stereotypes … More »REACTION TO TRAYVON'S DEATH FOLLOWS FAMILIAR TRAJECTORY
There are few black families who don't have a personal story about an unsettling encounter with the police, usually one involving male relatives. For all the encouraging -- astonishing, really -- racial progress over the last 50 years, the relationship between black Americans and white law enforcement … More »CASE OF TRAYVON MARTIN REVEALS OLD PREJUDICES RUN DEEP
The Republican Party has a demographic dilemma. Its largest dependable constituency comprises older white people, a group who vote reliably but who are unlikely to be around in large numbers two decades from now.You'd think that would prompt Republicans to start courting younger voting blocs with enthusiasm. … More »LATINO VOTERS FEEL UNWELCOME IN TODAY'S REPUBLICAN PARTY
Though it's a safe bet that Newt Gingrich won't win the Republican nomination, he has done well enough in the primaries to spare himself the embarrassment of abject failure. He has not made a fool of himself -- or, at least, no more a fool than he does in the regular course of pontificating, lecturing … More »NEWT'S COMBATIVE RHETORIC STILL HAUNTS POLITICAL DISCOURSE
Who can blame Olympia Snowe for giving up on the U.S. Senate?It has become a dysfunctional institution, infected by the same virulent partisanship that long ago claimed the House, hamstrung by rules that elevate petty politics over policy and stripped of the reasoned debate and thoughtful compromise … More »G.O.P. IS NOW THE PARTY OF EXTREMISTS
My 3-year-old recognizes President Obama -- or "O-ba-na," as she calls him. She can't tell you what he does, but, perhaps because of her mom's TV news viewing, she associates him with the U.S. flag and military rituals.She also recognizes the first lady and their two lovely daughters. (She further associates … More »BLACK HISTORY IS AMERICAN HISTORY
A few years ago, as I waited in a long line to vote at my local precinct, I overheard some mumbled complaints about the elderly poll workers assisting with ballots and voter rolls. Some of them were clearly flummoxed by newly installed computer databases and wasted precious minutes searching for names, … More »VOTER REGISTRATION FLAWS NEED REMEDIES, NOT EXPLOITATION
For nearly four decades, advocates for reproductive rights have been stuck fighting an ugly, expensive and sometimes dangerous campaign to ensure that women have access to safe and legal abortions. It's a Groundhog's Day sort of battle in which both proponents for choice and the opposing camp -- rigid … More »ACCESS TO SAFE CONTRACEPTIVES IS ONE WAY TO CURB ABORTION
I once trudged many miles in a cold rain to raise thousands of dollars for Susan G. Komen for the Cure's fight against breast cancer. I won't do it again.I once stood in the blazing sun to cheer men, women and young children walking in support of breast cancer survivors and in memory of those claimed … More »PLANNED PARENTHOOD 'INVESTIGATION' IS MEANT TO SCARE
"Since when do we in America accept this alien and discredited theory of social and class warfare? Since when do we in America endorse the politics of envy and division?" -- Ronald Reagan, 1982When Ronald Reagan spoke those words, the American economy was still a colossus astride the globe -- its workers … More »CLASS INEQUALITIES SHOULD BE EXAMINED, NOT DERIDED
Which of a long list of shortcomings doomed Rick Perry's campaign for the presidency? Certainly, he is among the world's worst debaters, a dim-bulb on foreign policy and a right-wing theocrat whose "pro-life" credentials stop short of fair trials for defendants in capital murder cases.But similar attributes … More »ANTI-IMMIGRATION G.O.P. WILL LOSE LATINO VOTERS
"We can thank (Ronald Reagan) for our annual 'Hate Whitey Day.'" -- 1990 Ron Paul newsletter on MLK holidayIt's tempting to simply forget Ron Paul's unfortunate history on racial issues, especially since he seems to be trying to forget it himself. He won't be the Republican nominee, and his years in … More »AMERICA WOULD BE DIFFERENT PLACE IF PAUL HAD HAD HIS WAY
Rick Santorum -- who gained the media spotlight after coming in a close second to Mitt Romney in Iowa -- has long been a hard-right social conservative: opposed to reproductive rights, adamantly homophobic, hostile to contraceptive use.But he hasn't previously been known as a race-baiter. The scion of … More »SANTORUM, OTHER REPUBLICANS IGNORE BROADER VIEW OF ECONOMY
WASHINGTON -- In 2009, when a staunchly conservative and visibly angry group of American voters launched a new political movement they called a "tea party," I was more than a little confused by the association with a seminal moment in the early history of this country. The Boston Tea Party grew out of … More »DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STILL GET THE RESPECT IT DESERVES
WASHINGTON -- Newt Gingrich has always had a way with words -- provocative words, harsh words, incendiary words. He and GOP consultant Frank Luntz pioneered Republicans' use of catchy phrases and misleading language not only to demean their rivals but also to redefine their rivals' policies.As speaker … More »GINGRICH STILL RELISHES HIS ROLE AS PROVOCATEUR
WASHINGTON -- I don't want to talk about Newt Gingrich's many marriages. I really don't. Nor do I want to talk about an alleged extramarital affair that Herman Cain may have carried on for 13 years. There are so many better reasons to doubt the leadership skills of both men -- sound, practical grounds … More »POLITICIANS' PUBLIC ACTS TRUMP THEIR PERSONAL BEHAVIOR
WASHINGTON -- I was never one of the airlines' pampered passengers. A few years ago, before motherhood and a recession slowed me down, my annual flight mileage allowed me the perquisite of early boarding -- before all the baggage bins were full. But I rarely saw first class except when passing through … More »AIRLINE TRAVEL IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART