This year's Super Bowl program contained a commercial "It's Halftime in America", featuring Clint Eastwood. Initially this seemed to be a public service pep talk for the nation, then a promo for Detroit, and it turned out to be a Chrysler ad. The commercial outraged Republicans....

The outcome of the 2012 presidential election will depend upon voters' perception of the US economy and the jobs market. Republicans have labeled Obama a failed president, claiming he could have done more to create jobs. In the GOP response to Obama's State of the Union, Indiana Governor...

In January of 1776, Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense that galvanized colonist support for American independence. 236 years later, Barack Obama presented his own forceful version of common sense in his third State-of-the-Union address.

Since last May, Republican presidential candidates have engaged...

2012's dominant political will be jobs and income inequality. Recent studies suggest that we add social mobility to the list: an American born into poverty is increasingly unlikely to be able to move up and out.

In his classic essay, "The Lost Art of Democratic Narrative,"

After Rick Santorum's surprising showing in the January 3rd Iowa caucuses, many observers asked, "Why didn't Mitt Romney win? What explains Santorum's late surge?" The answer lies at the core of contemporary Republican politics: they don't have one candidate that appeals to their fractured base.

A recent

January 1st marked the beginning of the transformative year predicted by the Mayan Calendar. Whether or not you believe that on December 21st a cataclysmic event will occur, you can agree that on November 6th there will be a monumental presidential election to determine whether U.S. democracy...

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," Charles Dickens wrote describing the period before the 1789 French Revolution. For America's rich, the 1 percent, 2011 was the best of times; for everyone else, the 99 percent, it was the worst of times.

The worst:...

It's been 168 years since Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol to illustrate the horrific living conditions of the English poor and promote the true nature of Christmas. If Dickens were still alive, he'd be compelled to update his tale.

On Christmas Eve, Bob Cratchit comes home from work and...

For eighty years, Americans have feared robots, worrying they might one day rule the world. In 2011 we realized our real enemies are not robots, but multinational corporations, who have declared war on democracy.

In 1936 evil robots made their first film appearance in Flash Gordon. Since then they've...

Wednesday evening, December 7th, Massachusetts's senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren met with Bay Area progressives. Some of us recalled a comparable meeting four years earlier with presidential candidate Barack Obama. At the time Obama was a rising star; now Warren is the rising star. While the two have similarities, there is...

The latest polls indicate that approximately 75 percent of Americans agree with the goals of Occupy Wall Street. Nonetheless, only 29 percent consider themselves supporters of OWS. What accounts for this enthusiasm gap?

The October Time magazine poll asked respondents if they agreed...

Despite the dreadful recession, a broken political system, and other woes, Americans have many reasons to be thankful. Here is my top ten list:

10. Rick Perry isn't going to be President: My Texas friends had warned me about Perry. "He's even worse than Dubya!" they said. So when...

While the 2012 elections are twelve months away, Republicans have handed President Obama and Democrats a winning theme: "they've gone too far."

First there was the Occupy Wall Street movement. Then came the results of the November 8th elections: Mississippi's rejection of a "personhood" amendment; Ohio's...

Occupy Wall Street is getting positive reviews and is viewed favorably by most Americans. Does OWS indicate the US political process has hit bottom and Americans are ready for radical change?

Recent polls indicate that Americans view Occupy Wall Street favorably. Poll respondents have...

The preamble of the United States Declaration of Independence declares: "...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter and abolish it, and to institute new Government." Occupy Wall Street is an assertion by 99 percent of...

While the organic Occupy Wall Street movement is similar to the spontaneous Arab Spring uprisings that began last December in Tunisia and Egypt, OWS is eerily reminiscent of the run up to the American revolutionary war.

Three ingredients fueled the original American Revolution. The...

As the U.S. economy stagnates and 14 million Americans remain unemployed, Washington politicians play familiar blame games. Republicans believe our problems stem from too much government and claim the economy would right itself if there were fewer taxes and regulations. Democrats assert the economy failed because of faulty government that...

When you fly to the west coast, you usually pass over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. On a clear day you'll notice the surrounding forests are irregular; they've been "checkerboarded." Millions of acres have been logged and "clearcut." While problematic on many levels, clearcutting imperils the drinking water for 45...

The defining characteristic of the 112th Congress has been extreme Republican partisanship, an unprecedented willingness to hold the Federal government hostage until conservative demands are satisfied. The GOP tactic has disrupted the U.S. and demolished the myth of a middle ground in American politics.

There are four explanations for the...

Barack Obama has been a disappointment, but in 2012 Americans will either vote for him or a Republican Neanderthal. To stay in the White House, Obama will need our support. That's an opportunity to set limits, to make specific demands. Here are four suggestions.

Jobs: In the most recent...