Tom Degan: Of the over 20,000 men who proudly – gallantly – served in the Montford Point Marines, less than 500 of them survive on Independence Day 2012.
Preparing Not To Forget
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Charles Hayes: The gradual slide into dementia that my own parents experienced serves as a constant reminder about what can happen when one gives up rigorous thinking.
Should We Crash the Prison System by Demanding Trials?
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Bruce Reilly: If everyone refused a plea bargain and went to trial, the system would crash. This maneuver is not new. I could have never organized these men to refuse plea bargains and go to trial for several reasons.
From Behind Bars to Law School
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Bruce Reilly: I came to New Orleans knowing but a few criminal justice activists, legal professionals, and some friends of friends. It was good to have folks who knew I had spent twelve years locked in prison.
Stop the Presses: The GOP Is Screwing Things Up! Who Knew?
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H. Scott Prosterman: Public education is in crisis nationwide, as are 23 state governments and most municipal governments, as the Grover Norquist ideologues have assumed power and seeded the certain destruction of public education at all levels.
Raging Inequality and Red-State Rationale
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Charles Hayes: Republicans are celebrating the 2010 Census because it reflects a gain in congressional seats in traditionally conservative states, but it would be wise of them to realize that a significant number of these people are moving because they can’t find work. Many of them have lost their homes to foreclosure, and if the Republican Party doesn’t get a clue pretty soon, these states may turn a brighter shade of purple with a tint of blue.
JFK: Fifty Years Later
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Tom Degan: Although JFK wasn’t able to accomplish a heck of a lot during the less-than three years that fate allowed him, he did set this country on the path toward accomplishing great things.
Rewriting History
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Tom Degan: So let’s all take a deep breath, shall we? These silly Republicans (in their present incarnation anyway) are about as much responsible for the gains of the civil rights era as I am for the invention of Cheese Doodles. Get a grip.
Anti-Incumbent Sentiment Growing
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Lori Vandermeir: Beth Krom understands how to connect the dots, she is solution oriented and demonstrates the kind of passion and courage that is desperately needed in Congress today. Unlike Campbell who is rarely seen in the district and who hates the retail side of politics, Beth Krom is seen as both accessible and effective. She is energetic and focused, and respected by almost everyone — even those who may disagree with her on certain issues.
Oily Birds and Other Atrocities
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Tom Degan: How ever will they justify continued off-shore drilling in light of what is now happening in the Gulf of Mexico? In just a few short days we’ve gone from a tragedy to a disaster to a full blown catastrophe. It will be more than interesting to see the depths to which the right wing will now stoop in order to trivialize this hideous event. Rush Limbaugh is already floating the idea out to his half-witted “Dittoheads” that this was sabotage on the part of the “eco-nazis”; that some unnamed environmental organization plotted this disaster in order to further their evil socialist agenda.
The End of the Great Moderation, the Bailouts of Freddie & Fannie and Wall Street, and the Tattered Safety Net for Everyone Else
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by Robert Reich — As we bail out Wall Street along with Freddie and Fannie and all the top financial executives who have been pocketing tens of millions a year, yet allow millions of homeowners and jobless Americans to sink, it’s worth contemplating what’s happening to the American economy and to our social safety nets.
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Who’s Who In Black Los Angeles: Who Really Wants To Know and What Is This Really About?
Anthony Asadullah Samad: Guess who discovered Who’s Who In Black Los Angeles after two years? Before you ask, I really wanted to feature a Los Angeles Times editor in Who’s Who in Black Los Angeles. Really. The problem is, there is not a single African American among those who make coverage decisions for the paper. In hindsight, it probably was a mistake not to include the one black man on the paper’s full-time Metro reporting staff. That brother deserves a special award for what I imagine he goes through everyday. Well, maybe next year.