Take Your Time, Mr. President From Viet Nam to Iraq and Afghanistan, the USA has waged war without an “end game” strategy and without understanding the culture of the countries we invade. It is a sad commentary on our political discourse and decision making when the President is criticized for taking time to understand the history and culture of Afghanistan, and to hear dissenting opinions about war strategy and how to proceed. Critical voices from the right urge him to act now and send more [...]

A Preventable Cause of Death: Lack of Health Insurance Mike Danforth died in April of colon cancer at the age of 33, but the real cause of his death was something preventable: the lack of health insurance. Mike’s mother is a friend of mine, and for the last two years she has struggled through the pain and anguish of watching her son die. For me, Mike’s death put flesh and blood on a health care debate that has focused primarily on money and governing philosophy, and too [...]

Fight for Consumer Protection! The US Chamber of Commerce and big banks are trying to scuttle the consumer protection provisions in the financial regulatory proposals before Congress. The banks, some of which would be out of business without taxpayer bailouts, and the chamber are showing their contempt for the American people. You can fight against this arrogance. Let your elected representitives know that your vote is worth more than the millions of dollars that business and industry barons are spending to fight against their customers’  best interests. Subscribe & Stay [...]

Spreading Stain of Reprehensible Conduct Bob Herbert directly and cogently addressed the topic of racism in American politics in his September 19 New York Times op-ed column: “Republicans have been openly feeding off of race hatred since the days of Dick Nixon. Today’s conservative activists are carrying that banner proudly. What does anybody think is going on when, as Anderson Cooper pointed out on CNN, one of the leaders of the so-called tea party movement, Mark Williams, refers to the president of the United States [...]

Glen Beck of Fox News suggested that President Obama’s push for health care reform and green jobs is his way of moving towards reparations. These people are not even subtle in their attempts to incite racial anger towards our black president. Put together with the continuing questions they raise about the legitimacy of his presidency by questioning his birth place and accusing him of forging a birth certificate; criticizing universities for offering him honorary degrees; suggesting that a gorilla in the Washington zoo is a [...]