The man the Orlando Sentinel once called “the worst person in the Florida Legislature” (and remember, y’all, there’s hell of a lot of competition) kicked off his bid by lying, assuring incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster that he would not run against him, then filing the paperwork to run against him.
Commentary
Lysenko, Stalin and Trump
On the one-year mark of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s malicious, politically motivated anti-science handling of a calamity that has killed more than half a million Americans so far recalls the alliance between fake Soviet scientist Trofim Lysenko and Stalin, which led to the death of millions.
Guantanamo, America’s Enduring Shame
Guantánamo is a crime against humanity and there will never be any justification to rationalize why hundreds of people were held indefinitely, without trial, without due process, without international observers and without ever seeing their families and loved ones.
The Golden Rule Is Not Cancel Culture
The Dr. Seuss estate’s decision to pull six books from reprints has nothing to do with cancel culture. That pair of terms has become its own dogmatic dumbbell anyway. Our misplaced nostalgia for books we were so fond of isn’t more important than the golden rule of looking out for our neighbors, to whom the same nostalgia translates as insult or put-down.
Productivity Math: A $15 Minimum Wage Is Still $9 Short of Where It Should Be
The weakening and undermining of unions, tax policy, urban and suburban planning and minimum wage standards no longer adjusted for inflation have left an obscene gap between worker productivity and poor and working class wages and benefits.
The Educated Aren’t Immune From Absurd Conspiracy Theories
Perhaps learning to understand why people fall prey to conspiracy theories can help us learn how to reduce people’s susceptibility to them. But whatever the reason, it does no good to write them off as “uneducated.”
Addiction Is Not a Crime. The Drug War Is.
To continue with our cruel and sadistic drug war is the daily crime. The only way out is to decriminalize all drugs, treat, repair and, somehow, atone for lawmakers’ and the judicial system’s half-century assault on their own citizens.
All Undocumented Americans Deserve a Pathway to Citizenship
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) known as the Dream Act survived years of attack from the Trump administration. It temporarily protects undocumented people, most of whom immigrated to the U.S. as young children, from deportation. families deserved this moment of relief.
The GOP’s Resentment Theater
President Biden recently became the first president to condemn white supremacy by name in an inaugural address. Then some Republicans got mad because, they say, it’s an attack on them. These complaints are disingenuous.
After the Muslim Ban
Before we let the horrors of the Trump administration fade away like a fever dream, we have to ask ourselves how we got here. Otherwise, it’s going to become a recurring nightmare, argues Domenica Ghanem.