I am so incredibly troubled by the incident in McKinney, Texas last week that I can’t see straight. And I do not mean the incident itself. I’m talking about the coverage of the incident, and the overall discussion of the incident. For a minute, take race out of it. If
Category: Justice
The Disgusting Specter of Drug Testing for Welfare
First off, I don’t use drugs. They’re stupid and pointless, and I’ve seen many lives ruined. I don’t just mean the illegal ones. I also rarely drink. Occasionally, I’ll have a glass of wine or beer, but even that’s rare. I don’t care if anyone else takes anything, as long
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Eric Holder Helps Save the Constitution
It’s not possible to overstate the importance of a move Attorney General Eric Holder made Friday when it comes to restoring at least a semblance of the constitutional republic we all dreamed of before we became so preoccupied by the “Drug War.” It’s funny; we think we’re so much smarter
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What the Serial Podcast Says About Our Justice System
I have to admit, I was very committed to the podcast Serial, which documents the cases both for and against Adnan Syed, who was convicted in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. At first, I was fascinated because I’m from Baltimore, and actually spent a large amount
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Guess what, white people; America is not “Post-Racial”
If you are bothering to read this, you probably remember how you felt on Nov. 4, 2008, when Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a black man, was elected president of the United States. To many, it seemed as if a country with racism in its DNA had become a greater nation, almost overnight.
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The Lionization of Snowden Demonstrates the Lethal Combination of Low Standards and High Ideals
I will never understand how anyone could consider Edward Snowden a “hero.” I hesitate to call him a “traitor,” but there is a lot of territory between “hero” and “traitor,” and I feel he occupies some territory in between, albeit not even close to “hero.” What has he done that’s
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In 1969, We Moonwalked and Chewed Gum at the Same Time; What Happened to Us?
Today is the 40th anniversary of the day man first walked on the moon. I'm sure everyone who was alive then knows where he or she was when the live, grainy black and white video showed two men first climbing down a ladder and jumping onto the moon. It was
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Investigation and Due Process of the Bushies: Are we Americans or are We Mice?
I am excited at the prospects offered by the Obama Administration, and I am looking forward to a future that is much brighter than anything we've seen since we ceded the government to the neocons 28 years ago, culminating in the last eight years of pure hell on earth. The
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Closing Gitmo: Don’t Let the Frighty Righties Scare You
I love all of the sudden consternation over President Obama's decision to close Gitmo within a year. Obama's been talking about this for a year, and he definitively stated that he would close it a few months ago. Now, suddenly, we have many in the news media speculating as to
