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(Analysis.) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, using his philosophy of “originalism”, says the Constitution does not guarantee equal rights to women. He recently said, “In 1868 (sic — actually 1865-6), when the 39th Congress was debating … the 14th Amendment, I don’t think anybody would have thought that equal protection applied to sex discrimination. … […]

In 1911, Helen Keller, in a private letter to a friend, wrote: Our democracy is but a name. We vote? What does that mean? It means that we choose between two bodies of real, though not avowed, autocrats. We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.1 Though Keller did not argue for not voting, she did express […]

With House minority leader John Boehner (R-OH) already picking committee assignments, it seems the Republicans are eager to take control of the House — and resume America’s rapid downward spin into plutocracy. ++1 The downward spin sped up in 2001, when the Bush II Republicans came to power, slashed taxes for millionaires, and cut –- […]

As Democrats try to extend tax cuts for 98% of the people, Republicans threaten to kill those tax cuts by filibuster, unless they can also extend tax cuts for the 2% with the highest incomes ($250,000+, filing jointly).1 Last week, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) cast the expiration of those tax cuts for the […]

Mobile Bay native Brinkley Hutchings flew over the water and saw the crude oil heading for her home. On May 13th, the 22nd day of the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP, gave an interview and downplayed it.1 “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The […]