Tagged evergreen

Have you noticed how often Donald Trump prefaces his comments and tweets with phrases like "frankly," "to tell the truth," and "believe me"? More than a verbal tic, these qualifiers subliminally admit that b... Read more...

Once upon a time, there was a place where the prevailing ethic of the very richest people was that monetary self-indulgence was tacky and that wealth was a matter of good fortune, carrying with it an obligation... Read more...

Language matters. For example, the words that corporate and government officials use to report on the health of America’s economy can either make clear to us commoners what’s going on – or hide and even lie abo... Read more...

With chaos in the White House, worsening climate disasters, more wars than we can count, and a wobbling economy here at home, the last thing we need is another big challenge. But – look out! – here comes a dooz... Read more...

The core idea of the "civic commons" is that we can be a self-governing people. A noble aspiration!

In a recent two-panel cartoon, a character holds a sign saying: "First they came for the reporters." In the next panel, his sign says: "We don't know what happened after that."

A half-dollar hardly counts as money these days – it won't even buy a cup of coffee! But... pssssst... here's an amazing half-dollar bargain for you: A first-class postage stamp. Read the full commentary here.... Read more...

It's been pointed out that Donnie Trump has unusually small hands... but who cares? What's truly alarming are his unusually small policy ideas. Read the full commentary here.... Read more...

If you think our government’s war policy has become out-of-this world cuckoo – consider the spaciness being proposed by the cosmonauts on Spaceship Trump. Read the full commentary here. ... Read more...

Ideally, elections are about ideas, but these days policy discussions are being shoved aside by raw partisanship and vitriol. Not only are good ideas ignored, but very bad ideas can become public policy withou... Read more...

Someone needs to buy a Grassroots USA tour package for the members of Donald Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, so they can at least visit the real world once in their lives.

It’s “Cyber Monday” – get out there and buy stuff! But you don’t actually have to go anywhere, for this gimmicky shop-shop-shop day lures us to consume without leaving home, or even getting out of bed.

Thanksgiving – let’s eat! America's most food-focused holiday traces its roots back to the abundant feast that Pilgrims and Indians enjoyed together in the fall of 1621.

In June, our immigrant-bashing president ordered an end to his own warped policy of forcibly tearing terrified migrant children from the arms of their asylum-seeking parents.

Shame is that queasy feeling you get when you realize you've done something improper, ridiculous... or just flat-out contemptible. But it's socially invaluable, for feeling ashamed is a built-in jerk alarm, keeping most of us from doing the same embarrassing thing again.

The US postal system has 30,000 outlets serving every part of America it employs 630,000 people in good middle-class jobs, and it proudly delivers letters and packages clear across the country for a pittance. It’s a jewel of public service excellence.

Donald Trump bragged in 2016 that, "I know words – I have the best words."

Many Americans can’t believe that political coups are part of our country’s history – but consider from the Wall Street Putsch of 1933.

The Koch brothers extremist political agenda of empowering multinational corporation’s to reign as sovereigns over the majority will of the people has always been inextricably entwined with the profiteering agenda of their wholly-owned, $100-billion-a-year, industrial conglomerate.

Generals plan wars, but battlefield commanders do the bloody work. So, meet HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, a quiet but bloodstained commandante in General Trump’s relentless war against poverty-stricken Americans.

Generalissimo Trump (whose nom de guerre is “El Donaldo,” the mucho macho presidente of the USA) is personally directing the hostilities in this assault on – surprise! – the USA.

Multibillionaire brothers, Charles and David Koch, want to supplant America's core democratic principle of majority rule...

The Koch Brothers believe that their great wealth entitles them to rule over the many – so, for decades, they've been running a surreptitious assault on the rules that protect the majority of us from their abuse.

Workplace exploitation is at least as old as the industrial revolution. But rather than using whips to make the assembly lines move ever-faster, today's corporate exploiters use technology, devious work schedules, and lobbyists to extract more work from employees – for less pay.

Question: What do you get when you combine ignorance, imperiousness, and incompetence? Answer: Betsy DeVos.