On the same day that Republicans howled over Hillary Clinton's use of "plantation", a GOP term of art, President Bush was practicing some plantation politics of his own. In Washington on Monday, the President honored the life of Martin Luther King Jr. by calling for the renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. "We […]

Among the least surprising political announcements of 2005 is the word from Boston that Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is not running for reelection in 2006. It is only the latest step towards a 2008 White House run for a man whose presidential ambitions started in the womb. The son of 1968 GOP presidential contender and […]

As I wrote recently, the White House is increasingly frustrated by Americans' continued pessimism with the President's handling of the economy. Perhaps President Bush can find some solace that he seems to draw his greatest support in precisely those states where conditions are the worst for American workers. That would appear to be the central […]

Voters across the nation dealt a major defeat to the radical anti-government movement. In state after state, the people rejected the starvation tax policies of the Norquistas and reaffirmed their shared commitment to investment in essential public services. Looking ahead to 2006, this augurs well for good government Democrats and represents a stern warning to […]

Now should not be the time, as Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly has noted, for the politics of blame. In the wake of Katrina's devastation along the Gulf Coast, Americans should be united in providing relief, resources and support to all in need. But sadly, that massive relief effort will take place during a […]

When South Carolina makes the headlines, it's rarely good news for the United States or the American people. In 1828, South Carolina was the hotbed of the Nullification movement. In 1860, South Carolina's secession led the way to the Confederacy and in April the following year, fired the shots at Fort Sumter that started the […]

In Mississippi, where Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen was convicted today of manslaughter in the 1964 civil rights murders, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal asks its readers a simple question: Do you think the Edgar Ray Killen trial and guilty verdict will mend the old wounds of the 1964 slayings? The simple answer? No. […]

Across the nation this week, the Republican Party and its amen corner unleashed a tidal wave of dangerously irresponsible interventions into the most personal and intimate aspects of Americans' private lives. Whether they will pay a political price for their increasingly extreme - and unpopular - positions remains to be seen. Let's begin in Madison, […]

There's an old saying that justice delayed in justice denied. Well, we're about to find out in Mississippi. Finally, 41 years after the fact, reputed Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen will be tried for the infamous killings in Philadelphia, Mississippi of three Chicago civil rights workers. The three, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael […]

This weekend, the disgusting spectacle of the Confederate flag reared its ugly head once again, this time in Missouri. Republican Governor Matt Blunt ordered the flag to be flown for a day during a memorial service attended at the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in Higginsville. The 400 people in attendance didn't just lay roses […]