John Peeler: The Republican takeover of the House was largely a matter of taking back the seats they lost in the last two elections, many of which are either majority Republican or conservative enough to have voted for McCain in 2008.
Sarah Palin: Professor of Freedom?
By
Ron Wolff: I suggest that it is not necessary to postulate bias against conservatives as the reason for the preponderance of liberals in academia. The simpler answer is that conservatives (with exceptions! I don’t want to over-generalize!) are less able (or at least less inclined) to engage in critical thinking worthy of an academic environment.
Why Aren’t Business Leaders Standing Up To the Tea Party?
By
Robert Reich: GE’s Mr. Immelt may be unhappy with President Obama, but he’ll be far unhappier if the tea party takes over the GOP.
Mocking the French for Getting It Right
By
Jim Fuller: Everything the American public has been told by the corporate news media about the anti-austerity uprisings in France, England and other European countries is a lie.
Hey, Prez, Got a Minute?
By
Mike Price: Dear President Obama, I want justice. I want you to serve not our enemies, but those of us with tears of joy over your inauguration.
The Incredible Shrinking Women
By
Tina Dupuy: Here’s the thing about women candidates: they are more interesting to the press than their male counterparts. The media just likes them more. There’s an obsession with female candidates’ gaffes.
Discombobulated Wingnuttery
By
If a person is uneducated to such a degree that articulating their political views rationally and coherently is not possible, then emotion is all they can bring to the table. If a person knows little of history and little of the dynamics of human behavior and politics, then any and all arguments that they don’t fully understand are perceived as an assault on their identity.
Why Democrats Should Not Join In Economic Scapegoating
By
Robert Reich: Democrats should admit America’s economic structure has become dangerously unbalanced — more unbalanced than it’s been in 80 years — and the imbalance is making it difficult if not impossible for the nation to emerge from recession. For these reasons, Democrats should recommit themselves and the nation to redresssing that balance.
What Is a Republican?
By
Ted Vaill: The Republican Party has been scoured of all moderates (except for the two Maine female Senators), leaving the Republicans in Congress consisting of hard right, fundamentalist, often Tea Party – supporting ideologues.
Judging the Judges – Nov 2010
By
Here we go again. I just received my “Official Sample Ballot” in the mail. I open it and scan each page. I see the list of candidates running for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, controller, treasurer, and so on. I know, without any doubt who I will be casting my vote for in all of the races except one. Which one?. . . You guessed it. THE JUDGES!!!!
Weapons of Masturbation
By
Robert Illes: Christine O’Donnell; Her idiocy, past and present, has made her a national figure, with millions of dollars flowing into her campaign.
It’s Time To Remember Tom Bradley (Part 2)
By
Michael Sigman: Just as Bob Dylan wouldn’t be possible without Woody Guthrie, or Ronald Reagan without Barry Goldwater, the idea of a direct line from Tom Bradley to Barack Obama can give us perspective on the contemporary political scene.
Breaking the Eleventh Commandment
By
Tina Dupuy: The Tea Party’s premise is like phoning someone you’re mad at because they won’t call you back and telling them never to call you again. That’ll show ‘em you aren’t crazy!
Jim Explains Tea Bagging
By
Tom Hall: If discouraged, disillusioned progressives stay home in November, we yield our governance to the cowardly, hate-filled, ignorance-embracing Jims, who will crawl out of their trailers and divert their pick-ups from night riding to drive to the polls. It is still our country, proud, free and diverse, unless we cede it to them.
American Taliban
By
In a recent commentary on Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Tea Party candidates, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich said, “After the victories of many of the insurgent primary candidates she’s sponsored, Sarah Palin is off to Iowa for a high-profile series of political events. Is it possible she’s looking to make a run in 2012? [...]
The Crackpot Gap: Why It May Be A Boon To Democrats But A Danger To America
By
Robert Reich: We’re in the midst of an ongoing economic emergency that requires clear thinking, intense work, and practical ideas. It also requires that we join together rather than be pushed apart. The loonies who are taking over the GOP pose a real and present danger.
Attack of the Dingbats
By
Tom Degan: Glenn Beck – The louse that roared. Does the FCC have any rules about incitement to violence? If they don’t, they really should. The other day on his nationally syndicated radio program Beck made the claim that America can expect violence in the very-near future — and that the president of the United States will be the instigator!
Inflation May Be Under Control, But Watch Out for Conflation
By
Michael Sigman: Just last week, Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer almost got away with conflating immigration and beheadings. When it became crystal clear she’d made it all up, she reached an Orwellian summit of non-apology-apology, acknowledging only that “If I said that, I misspoke.”
Book Burning and the New Red Scare
By
Tom Hall: As the new Tea Bag Republicans virtually guarantee gridlock and a forced double dip depression, the voters will again turn on them, giving a chance, in 2012, to candidates who offer real solutions, real progress, real hope. If we can find any.
Rewriting History
By
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.
Too Ignorant To Articulate Their Own Evil Ideas
By
David Love: Tea party folks are far too extreme for old-time conservatives who mostly cared about their money. (Come to think of it, for all of their so-called Christianity, the tea party conservatives wouldn’t have thought much of Jesus for that matter—a hippy man of color who spoke out against the rich and powerful, and hung out with the sick and the poor and the prostitutes. But alas, I digress.)
So Many Selves, So Little Time
By
Michael Sigman: Strangest of all, apoplectic far-Right lunatic Glenn Beck transmogrified — for a day, at least — into Our Savior last week before a throng of some 87,000, according to a CBS News estimate.
Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor Rally
By
Anthony Samad: Both Beck and Palin only became dissident voices in the last election cycle, so they wouldn’t have been factors in any Republican “rally” cry. The Republican party really has no “front men” (women) per se, other than John McCain — who ain’t nobody listening to.
Progressive Media Bolstering Republican & FOX News Agenda
By
Randy Shaw: Here’s a thought. What if the progressive media stopped reporting on every silly idea promoted by Sarah Palin and used that time to report on positive actions by the federal government to help people. I get emailed press releases announcing such accomplishments each day, so the stories are out there but are not covered.
Manifest Destiny Revivalism
By
Sikivu Hutchinson: Glenn Beck’s decision to hold the event on the March on Washington anniversary has elicited outrage amongst civil rights organizations who accuse him and the radical right of hijacking the legacy of the civil rights movement.
LA Progressive: August 15 to 21, 2010 — Articles
By
Articles by Sharon Kyle, Ed Rampell, Marian Wang, Joseph Palermo, Rev. Irene Monroe, John Peeler, Randy Shaw, Shamus Cooke, Andrea Nill, Steve Hochstadt, Mike Price, Tanya Acker, Ron Wolff, Norman Solomon, Robert Reich, H. Scott Prosterman, Tina Dupuy, Sylvia Moore, Lucia Brawley, Berry Craig, Ivan Eland, Sherwood Ross, Jasmyne Cannick, Peter Dreier and Donald Cohen, Seth Hoy, Linda Milazzo
The Newtiness of Newt
By
Michael Sigman: Newt’s bilious public statements, along with damning quotes in the Esquire piece from his second wife (out of three, so far) Marianne and from former long-time Republican congressman Mickey Edwards, suggest that Newt’s regeneration does not appear to have included a new heart.
America “Refudiates” Rights When Used
By
Ed Rampell: The controversy over building an Islamic community center near Ground Zero shows that in America, you have constitutional rights – until the second you try to use them.
Topic? I Don’t Need No Stinking Topic
By
Mike Price: Rubes, suckers, marks, johns, and other clubbies apparently think that tossing bottles around is the same as good bartending. Wrong. People who need juggling with their alcohol should do their drinking at the circus.
PCL offers monthly Open House Events on the 2nd Saturday at 2pm and 3rd Thursday at 6pm. Click here to learn more.
Sarah Palin Tweets Support to Schlessinger
Sarah Palin tweeted that Laura Schlessinger’s 1st amendment rights ceased to exist thanks to activists trying to silence her for using the N-word. Schlessinger’s constitutional rights were unaffected, her employability was.