One of the remarkable features of the modern Republican party and its Tea Party ground troops is their ability to spin on a dime and rally behind anyone they see as their own and defend them against all charges, even if it involves a total reversal of things they had previously held to be really important to them. [Read more…]
If you needed more evidence of the blatant double standards and hypocrisy practiced by the US government when it comes to dealing with Israel compared to countries that it does not like, this exchange between Associated Press reporter Matt Lee and State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland should settle any doubts.
They don’t even bother to pretend any more.
Those of us who have argued for a strict separation of church and state warned those who wanted the wall breached that if they were successful they should be prepared to live with Muslim and other minority religious encroachment in public life in those communities where those groups happened to be the majority or had significant influence. [Read more…]
In all the hoopla over the main verdict concerning the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act and the Chief Justice’s vote on it, two other important features have had less attention paid to them. [Read more…]
I wrote recently about Jonathan Krohn, the former conservative child star, who grew up. He has written quite a funny piece for Salon explaining what happened and the reactions to news of his drift away from conservatism. He echoes what I said, “So this is what this story boils down to: A 17-year-old has different opinions than he did at 13. People may be disappointed by how underwhelming that is, but it’s how the world works.” [Read more…]
Being an atheist in America is, at least for now, to be a member of an unpopular minority. While atheism and conservatism are perfectly compatible philosophies, the combination can be poison for those who seek to be in good standing with the Republican party which currently is under the tight control of religious fanatics. An atheist Republican is an even greater endangered species than a gay Republican or Muslim Republican. [Read more…]
As we should all be aware of by now, there is a concerted effort to destroy Social Security by changing its investments away from US Treasury bonds and divert that money into the stock market. This has not been an easy sell because who would you like to take care of your retirement: an efficient, safe, and secure government agency or the looters in the financial sector who think nothing of gambling with your money while pocketing huge salaries and bonuses and walking away with golden parachutes when they get caught? [Read more…]
The rich are different from you and me, as F. Scott Fitzgerald famously observed. For one thing, they grow up learning to be secretive about how they make their money and how much they make.
The very rich also have many devices for hiding their wealth and avoiding paying taxes that are unavailable to ordinary people. Most of the time, these are kept secret from the rest of us so we have little idea of what is going on. The few times the veil of secrecy is lifted is when they are taken to court by people who were once close to them and know the secrets but have had a falling out, such as in business disputes or messy divorces. [Read more…]