Category Archives: Discussion
The Right to Change One’s Mind
In the mainstream political discourse, changing one’s mind is seen as anathema. Someone who changes their mind “waffles” or “flip-flops” or “voted against it before they were for it” and so on and so forth. You hear this brought up … Continue reading
Public Radio’s Conservative Bias: Part Three!
Another saga in my ongoing campaign against media bias. I didn’t start it. There I was, minding my own business, when a local public radio station sent me an e-mail to inform me that my opinion does not matter to … Continue reading
The War on Black People
For anyone who missed Michelle Alexander’s appearance on Fresh Air on Martin Luther King Day, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Read the transcript, or better yet, buy her book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of … Continue reading
The Occupy Movement Speaks
Not just all across the nation, but all around the globe, untold thousands of people came together today to speak out against the corrupt system that benefits the wealthiest 1% (or less) at the expense of the masses. Their message … Continue reading
We Agree
Shared Beliefs of Conservatives and Progressives We believe in freedom. We believe in hard work. We believe that good work should be well rewarded. We believe in the right to own property which is the reward of our work; and … Continue reading
Pay Congress Minimum Wage
As the Federal budget circus continues to run around in three rings, I would like to revisit a proposal I made in the book. This proposal of mine would reduce costs to taxpayers by cutting the pay of a specific … Continue reading
Not Enough: The Failures of International Peacekeeping
International peacekeeping in the twenty-first century seems to follow two models: the reactive model, which uses the courts and often takes decades to bring a handful perpetrators to justice; and the for-profit model, which is concerned with protecting the strategic … Continue reading
On Partisanship
I am going to try an experiment. I am going to try a change of tone. In earlier posts I have railed against my political opponents and described them in unflattering terms. I am not going to go back and … Continue reading
Why Republicans Want to Eliminate Social Security (and Medicare and Medicaid)
The reason is simple. Hint: Government debt is not a factor. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid quite literally prop up the middle class. Eliminate these programs, and the middle class will all but disappear. THAT is the whole point. The … Continue reading
The Cost of Legislating Personal Behavior
From a Constitutional perspective, you believe in personal freedom. You don’t like the government telling you what you can or cannot do. From a fiscal perspective, you believe in eliminating waste, cutting government spending, and reducing the deficit. If this … Continue reading