"If you think that by hanging us you can stamp out the labor movement, then hang us. Here you will tread upon a spark, but here, and there, and behind you, and in front of you, the flames will blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put in...

First posted at thenation.com

At the risk of profound understatement, it's been a difficult 2011 in the state of Arizona. Jared Loughner's shooting spree that grievously injured Representative Gabrielle Giffords and killed six, including 9-year old Christina Green, was a national horror. The killings also focused global attention...

First run at The Nation

Unions across the country are standing with the workers of Wisconsin against the unprecedented attacks by Gov. Scott Walker. Count the National Basketball Association's Player's Association among their ranks. The NBAPA have been threatened with layoffs, contraction, and steep cuts...

In one of the most astounding polls I've ever seen, Gallup reported earlier this month that 69 percent of Americans were "following the events in Egypt closely," and 83 percent of them "sympathized with the protesters." When you consider the kind of rampant Islamophobia that's infected the...

Already multiple members of the Super Bowl winning Green Bay Packers have taken public stands against the frightening, dictatorial, anti-union rampage of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. These pro athletes have chosen to link arms with the tens of thousands of nurses, teachers, and firefighters standing as one against Governor Walker's...

First run at thenation,com

I believe in athletes having the freedom and space to take political stands without having to worry about media and corporate backlash. I believe in athletes having the freedom and space to not take political stands if that's their choice....

First posted at thenation.com

Less than two weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers -- the only fan-owned, non-profit franchise in major American sports -- won the Super Bowl, bringing the Lombardi trophy back to Wisconsin. But now, past and present members of the "People's...

I'm often asked who's the best owner in professional sports. The answer is easy: it's the 112,000 owners of the Green Bay Packers, the only fan-owned, not-for-profit team in the United States.

I'm also often asked who's the worst owner in the wide world of sports. This has...

The act of speaking on television, for me, always requires twisting into more contorted knots than my Grandmother's Challah. When the camera turns on, you have to mind your words with care... while trying to entertain... while trying to say something politically strong...while trying to conform to whatever topic...

With the passage of time, there are two establishment responses to the great political rebels in sports. You either see them commodified and defanged -- think Muhammad Ali -- or they are simply erased from history. Count Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist among the erased. Gilchrist, a former...

In the wake of Saturday's horrific shooting in Tucson of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 other victims, long overdue attention is being paid to Republican Party heroine Sarah Palin's brazen use of violent language and symbols. It's hard to recall a national political figure since George Wallace who played...

Leave it to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to end a thrilling NFL regular season on a sour, ugly note. As football fans, sports radio devotees, and chat-room obsessives gathered Monday to discuss the playoff seedings, Goodell issued an ill-timed letter laying out the state of negotiations with the...

Pundits, man your stations. It seems that the Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson yipped that Eagles quarterback Michael Vick should have been executed three years ago when convicted on dog-fighting charges.

Many are now getting hot and bothered expressing shock that Carlson would actually call for Vick's execution...

Here we have what are indubitably and without argument, the top seven collisions of sports and politics in 2010 that didn't involve an elbow and Barack Obama's mouth. Why seven and not ten? Deflation!

7 -- Kye Allums makes history. The Jackie Robinson of 2010 goes by...

In my mind, when the Fox News star Bill O'Reilly decides to make you a target, it's a badge of honor. This is a man who politically is a proud Islamaphobe, declaring, "We have a Muslim problem, not a Muslim extremist problem." And personally? Anyone who likes to...

I have long believed that it would take an "Act of God" for Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf to get a new, publicly-financed football stadium. After all, despite Wilf's pleadings and threats, taxpayers are less than eager these days to subsidize the billionaires among us. This is particularly true...

Pity the sports columnist who reaches for sanctimony in the Gomorrah of college football. Two voters for the 2010 Heisman Trophy, the sport's top award, have announced that they won't vote for Auburn quarterback Cam Newton because of their moral qualms about Newton's "integrity." Their names...

As you prepare to play your ex-team the Cleveland Cavaliers, during a night you are already describing as "very emotional," I have one plea: Hold the emotion and please at long last, wear the black hat. Be emotional off the court. On the court, be Lee Van Cleef. Be...

It's past time that the storied Notre Dame football squad had its program suspended. In a season of heartbreak and horror under new coach Brian Kelly, the Fighting Irish have more than earned what's known as the NCAA's dreaded "death penalty." Historically, teams have received "the death penalty"...

This past week, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross showed why many owners choose to let National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell do their talking for them. Ross spoke out for the logic of extending the current 16-game season to 18 games, saying:

The additional games, the studies show will...