For months, conservatives have been warning Americans about the supposed "Ferguson Effect." Murder rates in cities like St. Louis, Chicago and Baltimore are rising, they claim, because police fear being criticized for doing their jobs, thus emboldening criminals to take advantage of their absence. But while there are plenty of reasons to doubt the Ferguson […]

Watching the Republican presidential debate last Tuesday night, I kept flashing back to George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Vice President Al Gore, Bush charged that August night, "now leads the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but the only thing he has to offer is fear itself." Coming as it […]

In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 and wounded hundreds more, there is little doubt that the U.S., France, the UK and other American allies will step up their strikes on Daesh targets in Syria and Iraq. Beyond that, the questions about what the coalition should--and shouldn't do--to combat ISIS […]

In the wake of the slaughter in Paris, the 2016 Republican White House hopeful and their conservative allies have done a stellar job whipping up hysteria about the terrorist threat from ISIS. But when it comes to domestic terrorism from right-wing extremists, that dangerous amalgam of anti-government, anti-abortion and anti-tax radicals whose body count has […]

In the aftermath of the bloody attacks in Paris, conservatives are hopping mad that President Obama isn't mad enough. During Obama's G20 press conference, an incredulous CNN's Jim Acosta asked, "Why can't we take out these bastards?" s, Apparently unaware that the President's would-be GOP successors have offered little more than the steps Obama is […]

In the wake of the horrifying ISIS attacks in Paris, the Republicans' best and brightest have one shared message for the American people. "We are at war with radical Islam," Florida Senator Marco Rubio declared, while his fellow Sunshine State Republican Jeb Bush agreed, tweeting "Yes, we are at war with radical Islamic terrorism." Former […]

In the wake of the slaughter in Paris, Republican presidential candidates current and past have rushed offer their condolences to France and their condemnation of President Obama. The GOP's 2008 nominee John McCain issued a statement declaring: "My thoughts and prayers are with all of the people of France. America stands with our ally, the […]

During the 2012 Republican National Convention, Jeb Bush proclaimed of his brother George, "He is a man of integrity, courage, and honor, and during incredibly challenging times, he kept us safe." In the face of the inconvenient truth that Dubya presided over the slaughter of 3,000 Americans on U.S. soil on 9/11, deadly anthrax and […]

In the wake of the Charleston massacre, Americans are debating when, where and whether states, businesses and individuals should display the Confederate flag. But as a recent CNN/ORC poll suggests, the debate we are having is the wrong one. Even after neo-confederate terrorist Dylann Roof slaughtered 9 in the cradle of secession, 57 percent of […]

From its inception, America's history has often been the product of the changing balance between compelling but conflicting national ideals. The federal versus the state, "rugged individualism" versus collective action for the public good, the separation of church and state, and isolationism versus crusading globalism are just some of the pendulum swings that have defined--and […]