Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/national/page/17/)
America is founded on the ideals that families should stick together, that hard work should be rewarded, that those fleeing persecution should find refuge on our shores, and that our justice system should give due process and a fair day in court to everyone who comes before it. Continue Reading
Arguments about health insurance rate shocks when Obamacare kicks in willfully disregard key facts behind the policy.
Immigration reform has been a long time coming. It has been decades since the United States last tackled the issue in a comprehensive, coherent manner. Continue Reading
My morning started this “Independence Day” listening to Amy Goodman and her Democracy Now! program recount the heroism of Daniel Ellsberg, Senator Mike Gravel, and the Unitarian publishing house, Beacon Press, in “blowing the whistle” and releasing the Pentagon Papers in an attempt to end the war on Vietnam by our government – comparing their acts of courage and conscience to that of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden today. Later, I spent an hour reading from What Does Justice Look Like? by Dakota author and historian Waziyatawin and then watched the film “42”, the story of Jackie Robinson in breaking the color barrier in professional sports in the United States. It got me thinking about why the July 4th holiday has always been a bittersweet experience for me ever since I became politically aware. Continue Reading
The battle for state recognition of same-sex marriage has just begun. While many might think that the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor striking down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) represents the last judicial word on the issue, that is far from the case. Instead, that decision has changed the legal debate and strategy regarding same-sex marriage, and it still involves DOMA. Continue Reading
Last week, while watching the George Zimmerman murder trial, I was struck by the ways in which race, racism, and socio-economic status continue to play a key role in determining who lives and who dies and who has value and who is perceived as having little value in our society. The fact that in this day and age an African American boy could be targeted for “walking while Black” speaks volumes about the undercurrent of hazardous race relations that are ever-present, yet hidden, until an explosive situation occurs that reminds us of its clandestine and shameful existence. If anyone is under the illusion that race is no longer an issue, then one should look no further than Rachel Jeantel, and America’s response to her appearance in the George Zimmerman murder trial. Indeed, Rachel Jeantel is a 19 year old high school student, a friend of Trayvon Martin who happened to be the last person he spoke to before he was killed, and the star witness for the prosecution in this case. As a teenager, thrust into the middle of arguably one of the greatest controversies of this decade, it is not hard to imagine why Rachel Jeantel would be reluctant to come forward as a witness. Continue Reading
Here is what I remember: hundreds of people riding a train from DC to Montgomery, Alabama in the heat of a southern spring. Here is what I saw: priests and teenagers, college students and old men, professors and lawyers and dentists and ministers, pouring into the railroad car. I remember the long ride and standing along the back of the train feeling the warmth and sweet smell of flowers along the way that night. We sang songs, of course and we napped in each other’s arms and we watched as FBI agents surrounded our car and spoke on their walkie- talkies as we pulled into the station. We walked through the city to get to the organizing field where we were joined from others from all over the country. During that walk we passed stores where men and women stared, flinty eyed, their hands resting on the barrels of their guns. Dr. King went around shaking hands before we began the walk back into the capitol. By now this scene may feel like a cliché. Our bodies and our voices and our singing may feel like something so historical, so long gone and over, so unnecessary that this picture may be meaningless to many people who read this blog. Continue Reading
Like most Americans I’m totally befuddled by the Snowden affair. A confirmed supporter of open government my allegiance to the people’s right to know is in the DNA. At the same time, I hear the concerns of data privacy advocates. And in the end, it seems to me that this bifurcation of the issue is a false premise at its core. Continue Reading
The United States Supreme Court released two important rulings on same-sex marriage this morning. It struck down the federal “Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)” that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. It also essentially struck down California’s “Proposition 8,” a voter referendum that revoked the freedom of same-sex couples to marry in that state. The Supreme Court ruling makes same-sex marriage legal again in California.Interviewed days before today’s ruling, a leader of one of the groups that successfully lobbied for same-sex marriage in Minnesota says the ruling could have a large impact on same-sex couples in the state. Project 515 Executive Director Ann Kaner-Roth says there are 1138 federal laws relating to marriage and if the court were to rule DOMA unconstitutional, the rights and benefits from those federal laws would be available to same-sex couples in Minnesota.Kaner-Roth says the ruling could have an impact on immigration cases where a same-sex spouse is from another country. Continue Reading
With Monday’s affirmative action decision and Tuesday’s Voting Right Act case the Supreme Court has just about ended the second civil rights era in American history, paving the way for the second great disenfranchisement in American history. While the decisions were no surprise, they nonetheless tell us many things about race, class and power in American politics, and also about who the Supreme Court favors. . .and it is not the powerless and oppressed. Continue Reading