Perspectives
Health care, one more time
On the most important domestic issues of the day, our two political parties don’t merely lay out competing arguments; they inhabit alternative realities...
We need justice on foreclosure fraud
Investigative reporter David Dayen calls foreclosure fraud “the largest consumer fraud in the history of the United States.” He cites “multitudes of evidence about fake documents, forged documents, illegal foreclosures, foreclosures on military members while they ...
Facing a crossroads
Woody Allen once said that “more than any time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” Our reliance upon fossil fuels has ...
Harry Potter explores life’s big questions
Parents who take their children to see the Harry Potter films enjoy a fun family night. But unless they dig deeper into the stories, parents miss a great opportunity to explore life’s biggest issues with their children...
A Super Bowl ad we can do without
Today, there are few corners of our communal life untouched by rancorous political division...
Zombie conservatives at the schoolhouse door
Last week, the president delivered an education speech that fell somewhat short of the standard set by Lenin in his address at the Finland Station, launching the Bolshevik Revolution. In fact, Barack Obama told Americas schoolchildren to work hard, respect their ...
Journalistic stings go mainstream
Here’s a problem of professional ethics right out of today’s headlines: If a news organization prohibits its own staff from using certain reporting techniques — say, deception — should it publish information that somebody else gathered using those forbidden ...
A half-century later, the environmental movement returns to its roots
It’s been more than four decades since the first Earth Day event held on April 22, 1970. And since that time it is fair to say that the environmental movement has had its ups and downs. So where does it stand today, and what should we expect moving forward? When it ...
It’s time to open the vault on Kennedy
President John Kennedy was killed 50 years ago. There is still considerable controversy about who did it. The release of 4 million pages of long-secret documents since Oliver Stone’s movie JFK clarified some disputes but raised new questions. Many thousands of pages ...
Seeger’s true politics
Folk singer Pete Seeger, who died at age 94 last month, provided a soundtrack for every progressive crusade of our time, from labor unions to civil rights, from world peace to environmentalism. He wrote, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” “If I Had A Hammer” and “...
The Democratic Party’s two faces
"The real struggle within the Democratic Party is where you stand on income inequality and whether the government needs to be a part of fixing that problem. The demographics that the Democratic Party must attract are the people who need responsive government.” —Rep. ...
Taking care of our least fortunate
In 1992, Rush Limbaugh ridiculed Boulder Mayor Leslie Durgin for saying, “We don’t want to become the kind of community where everyone is white, upper-middle class. ... We really want to have a diverse community...
