Demockracy

All Play and Carrie Bradshaw Makes Scott an Unholy Boy

One of Bill Maher’s funniest antireligious moments on TV was the time he put up a photo of three asinine-looking clerics at some interfaith dialogue. You had the Greek Orthodox guy in his stupid hat; next to him was a Muslim mullah with the big turban, and then there was ...

Cheney Seeks True Love Online

Where has tricky Dick been lately? I know, I know, Nixon done died. I mean Dick Cheney. Where is that bigmouth. Where are the pearls of wisdom reminding us he was always right and Obama is wrong about everything? Can anybody help me find him? Like ...

San Francisco Gets an Antiwar Congresswoman

The recent 226-202 House of Representatives approval of the supplemental budget was a particular disappointment to antiwar activists. At one point they’d thought it might be possible to block the bill and its $79.9 billion Department of Defense appropriation earmarked largely for the Iraq and Afghanistan ...

Pfizer Stimulates Economy with Free Viagra Offering

This podcast takes a look back at some of the issues that made news over the past two weeks. First, it deals with economic issues and how they pertain to pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Next, it looks at North Korea and the reaction from the international community to its latest nuclear ...

Gallup, Abortion, and Shades of Gray

With the economy, health care reform, environmental regulation, and other important issues being widely discussed in policy circles, it would be easy for one to forget about wedge issues, such as abortion. However, with the news of the shooting of Dr. George Tiller, among other recent acts of extremist right-wing ...

The Future Won’t Be Televised

Digital TV is here and the government can't give you another extension. It's time to figure out how to convert your TV if you want your entertainment. I anticipate in the next week several hard luck cases will be marched out to show how not everyone can catch up, but ...

Let’s Talk About Sonia Sotomayor Like Grown-Ups

During his confirmation hearing in 2005, John Roberts likened the job of a Supreme Court justice to that of a baseball umpire: Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire ...

Letter from Saudi Arabia: Jeddah Knights and the Nadir of Existence

It's 15 hours of flying time to Saudi Arabia, where I taught English to military recruits in the early to mid-1990s. As usual, it's two o'clock in the morning when the plane approaches--a sterile, flat dustbowl streaked with streetlights that from the air look like endless threads of yellow beads. And then ...

Review of West of the West: Dreamers, Believers, Builders, and Killers in the Golden State

West of the West: Dreamers, Believers, Builders, and Killers in the Golden State by Mark Arax Public Affairs: 350 pp., $26.95 It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. “Democracy,” Leonard Cohen As America is to the world, so is California to America. If you’re looking for the ...

Reactions to China’s Tiananmen Blackout: Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them

This June fourth marked the twentieth anniversary of pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. These protests were violently put down by China’s government, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of (usually nonviolent) protesters and iconic photos and videos showcasing the inhumanity and intolerance of Chinese communism in the midst of ...