Archive By Section - Columnists
How Not to Talk About Wealth Inequality
Have you heard we live in an oligarchy? Perhaps you've been told America is a plutocracy? Is that because of widespread demagogy?
Don’t Dump Pennsylvania’s Governor
Be careful, Pennsylvania people.
Baseball Icon Joins the Liberal Echo Chamber
This week, Hank Aaron broke the hearts of millions of Republicans and conservatives who supported him and cheered him on in 1974 while racists threatened his life.
Fall of the House of Bush?
Are hard-line Republican conservatives about to implement their own version of political entitlement reform? Are we now witnessing the beginning of the fall of the House of Bush?
Blood Moon Ushers in the Stupid
The Blood Moon on Monday night might have brought on the apocalypse, because a rash of stupidity in politics seems to have infected this great land of ours. When you have one major political party winning the argument against evolution, brainless is the new black. But if Republicans define dumb down any more, soon they'll have to apply for drilling rights.
Real Voter Fraud is Curbing the Right to Vote
Everett Dirksen and his fellow moderate Republicans (a now virtually extinct species) transcended partisanship in 1964 and supplied the key votes to pass the historic Civil Rights Act. Now flash forward 50 years. Can you imagine how today's Republicans would respond if a major civil rights bill was on the table?
Doo Dah, Back at You
OCEAN CITY, N.J - Everyone loves a parade, or so they say, and by Labor Day practically every town and village in America will have one. They could all learn something from the way folks here conduct a mid-April oddity called the Doo Dah Parade.
Longing for Tax Freedom
"I can't believe it. The wife and I owe the IRS again!"
Patronizing Paychecks
In a move as surprising as limos at a state funeral the GOP has misplaced their ticket for the clue train. Yes, again. Just when you think they get it, party leaders move heaven and earth and that place due south to prove that not only do they not get it, they have never gotten it and aren't really comfortable around people who do get it. One suspects, secretly, they don't want it.
The Grim Repo: Medi-Cal Estate Recovery Act
It was 2007 and we were all gathered around the kitchen table. It was my husband; his parents, Frank and Rachel (not their real names); and me spending a Sunday afternoon catching up. Everyone, it seemed at that time, had just bought a house. Their modest three-bedroom tract home, which they were a year from paying off, was now worth half-a-million dollars.
Phone Lost, Friends Found
If you're reading this, I'm sorry I didn't get your name, but I wish to thank you for returning the cellphone I left in your taxi. Moreover, I want to explain how you and several others at LAX provided a refresher course in good nature.
My Father’s 1959 Tax Return
Exclusive Excerpt from: "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" by Tom Purcell
The Talk Radio Party?
So what does the Tea Party want this fall?
Income Tax Procrastinators, Unite!
Tyrades! By Danny Tyree
Now those are special effects
God bless America, and how's everybody?
Articles by Section - Columnists
How Many More Wars?
Last week President Obama sent Congress legislation to authorize him to use force against ISIS "and associated persons and forces" anywhere in the world for the next three years. This is a blank check for the president to start as many new wars as he wishes, and it appears Congress will go along with this dangerous and costly scheme.
Awaiting Our Next George Washington
"Boy, here's something we could use more of today: unity among the American people. Americans are so divided."
Boehner, Netanyahu Helping Iran
What would it look like if politics stopped at the water's edge? It wouldn't look like the mess that John Boehner created by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a session of Congress on March 3. By allowing Netanyahu to stage what is effectively a campaign event in the U.S. Capitol, congressional Republicans have not only damaged our relations with Israel but threatened our diplomatic negotiations with Iran.
The Fall of the Southern Poverty Law Center
There was a time when Morris Dees and his Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) were respected.
The New Republican Tar Pits
It's kind of sad being forced to watch the death struggle of these modern-day dinosaurs. Responsible parents should keep their kids from peering over the Plexiglas railing into the tar pits below to see the huge lumbering antediluvian beasts frenziedly dig themselves deeper into the sticky morass that is gay marriage. Not a sight for the queasy or squeamish.
