Ahhh, that’s better…. For the first time in six years I feel a sense of hope. With the Democrats firmly in control of the House, and poised to take the Senate, the Republican “mandate” is over. (Disgraced evangelical pastor and presidential advisor Ted Haggard may be forgiven for thinking mandate is two words.) We have seen the results of the Republican mandate, a winner-takes-all approach that is a frontal attack on our democratic system. It has propelled this country into a testosterone-crazed foreign policy, legitimized loony fundamentalists, and made special interests a de facto fourth branch of government. With Congress … Continue reading →

Time flies when you’re having fun, they say. I’ve found that it flies whether you are having fun or not. Seems like just yesterday New Orleans was getting hammered by Hurricane Katrina, and FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, under Director Michael “Brownie” Brown, was doing a colossally bad job of handling the aftermath. As you may recall, before being named to head FEMA Brownie was the troubled commissioner of an Arabian horse organization. So how did he get to be director of FEMA? It’s kind of a funny story, really. Brownie’s old college roommate, Joe Allbaugh, was Bush’s campaign … Continue reading →

I’ve been at a loss to know what to write about the current disaster in Mississippi and Louisiana, particularly New Orleans. My emotions continue to run the gamut from sorrow and pity to anger and outrage. The response of the Federal government has been, shall we say, inadequate. Bush league even. (Remember Bush’s “ownership society?” This is what it looks like during a national crisis. Maybe we should just call it what it is: the “You’re-on-your-own society.”) The following is an open letter to President Bush published in the Sept. 4 New Orleans Times-Picayune. I reprint it here, in full, … Continue reading →