10:49 AM, 12/04/14
Peter King Says There Are 'No Elements Of Racism' In Eric Garner Case
2:19 PM, 12/02/14
Black Lawmakers Bring Ferguson Protest Symbol To House Floor
4:33 PM, 12/01/14
New GOP Congressman Says Government Bribes Single Parents To Be Lazy, Stay Unmarried
I didn't cry. But a part of me died. When I heard the news about Eric Garner, my casual 'faith' in America died -- and I am thankful for its death.
The idea that that we might live in a post-racial society -- a concept that became a topic of national discussion among the pundits after the election of President Barak Obama -- has slinked into a dark corner in recent weeks.
An unjust law has been struck down, ensuring that elders will live out their final years knowing they are equal in their home state, ushering in an era in which a gay kid growing up in Mississippi will be able to envision a future in which she marries the love of her life in her hometown.
The tragedy of Ferguson has certainly generated a national conversation about race, about the over-militarization of local police departments, about the excessive use of force and about the prosecutor's abuse of the notoriously unfair Grand Jury system.
The "Season's Greetings" banner hung across South Florissant Road in Ferguson, Missouri, is a far smaller piece of incongruity than the Christmas truce on the Western Front during World War I a century ago, but it provides a contemporary reminder of the contrast between our ideals and our treatment of one another.
As voters we must be careful about believing the rhetoric of anybody who stands to gain or profit on the backs of our children. Each of us is responsible for developing a better understanding of why we support or oppose major reform initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards.
It's that magical time of year when the wee folk of Capitol Hill actually get something done. These brief bursts of activity only happen very rarely, of course, and always immediately proceed another one of the many, many long vacations Congress takes during the year.
While Young's case is currently experiencing a fever pitch of visibility, her story is far from an anomaly.
While any one month's results from these "high-frequency" data should be taken with a grain of salt, I saw no obvious anomalies in the payroll data. Job growth was robust across industries, with almost 70 percent of private industries expanding.
Rarely do politicians or political parties offer a coherent framework for deciding when a higher level of government should preempt a lower level of government, or when individual liberty trumps state regulation. Which makes Alaska so refreshing and instructive.
We need a bold inter-racial movement to demand social justice for all of America's sons and daughters. That movement is already underway.
We already have many of the technologies needed to fight super pollutants. Given how harmful these super pollutants are on our environment, it only makes sense to use these existing technologies to reduce our emissions and slow climate change before it is too late.
A largely quiet tactic to disenfranchise voters of all persuasions has become a target of reform-minded citizens in the wake of the 2014 midterm elections.
It's curious that four crucial aspects of war, American-style, were missing from the blitz of Hagel reportage. Here's a rundown.
It is unimportant whether we agree with the decision of the grand jury or the juries of future trials and the actions of special investigations. The United States is a nation of laws, and the grand jury has spoken for now. We need to move forward in a peaceful, thoughtful and lawful manner.
Whether their actions are based on something as simple as political DNA or a plot to retaliate against the president by taking hostages and wiping out villages, Congress, led by the GOP, is working hard to hurt the very people who elected them and helping the ones who got them elected.
"Black lives matter." "I can't breath." These are the words that have been chanted by protestors from New York to California. Demonstrations continue nationwide against the deaths of young black men at the hands of police officers.
We cannot allow Eric Garner's sadly prophetic next words, "It stops today," to refer only to his life. It is past time that we admit what so many have known for too long: That all too often, our justice system simply is not just.
The people don't want a Democratic or Republican Surgeon General, just as they don't search for their personal physician by political affiliation. They want the best, most qualified physician to entrust with their health.