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From Hanigan to SB 1070: How Arizona Got to Where It Is Today

by Geraldo Cadava

Exactly thirty-four years ago, on August 18, 1976, white ranchers in southern Arizona kidnapped, tortured, and robbed three Mexican migrants who crossed the border at Douglas on their way to Elfrida, where farm work awaited them.  For the next five years, until trials of the ranchers ended, the incident drew international attention. This past March, rancher Robert Krentz was murdered just a few miles from where the Hanigans tortured their victims.  While authorities have not arr

Channelling George Washington: The Glorious Fourth!

by Thomas Fleming

     “I thought this might be a good time to talk about revolutions.”      This time I had  no difficulty recognizing the deep voice. I had been hoping Mr. Washin

Channelling George Washington: Campaign Finance

by Thomas Fleming

"To see this country happy is so much the wish of my soul, nothing on this side of Elysium can be placed in competition with it." “President Washington! I haven’t heard from you for a while.” “I

Channelling George Washington: The Role of the Presidency

by Thomas Fleming

"To see this country happy is so much the wish of my soul, nothing on this side of Elysium can be placed in competition with it."  “President Washington? Is there a new problem on the po

Channelling George Washington: The Imperial Congress

by Thomas Fleming

"To see this country happy is so much the wish of my soul, nothing on this side of Elysium can be placed in competition with it.""President Washington?  Are we going to discuss the imperi

Channelling George Washington: Presidents Criticizing Presidents

by Thomas Fleming

"To see this country happy is so much the wish of my soul, nothing on this side of Elysium can be placed in competition with it." "What's on your mind tonight, Mr. President?"

Channelling George Washington: The Learning Curve

by Thomas Fleming

“To see this country happy is so much the wish of my soul, nothing on this  side of Elysium can be placed in competition with it." “You’re sounding very cheerful tonight, Mr

Channelling George Washington: Book Return

by Thomas Fleming

“Instead of worrying about the happiness of the whole country, what do you say to devoting tonight’s visit to the sort of thing that keeps an ex-president happy?”“I’m all for t

Repealing Birthright Citizenship Wasn't a Good Idea Back in the Forties Either

by Greg Robinson

The recent wave of public anger over illegal immigration has given rise to a movement to amend the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees birthright citizenship for all native-born children, in order to strip children of illegal immigrants of

Social Security at Seventy-Five

by Edward D. Berkowitz

Many people concede Social Security’s glorious past but worry about its future.  They see the Social Security program, which is celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary, as a potential problem rather than prime example of what the government has done right.  They say it is a simple matter of numbers—too many benefits promised to too many people by too few workers.Such a view willfully ignores the program’s history of overcoming challenges and overlooks the fact that, even under

Tea Party Anarchists?

by Caroline Hamilton

Anti-government rhetoric is once again all the rage (pun intended) in the United States.   Neoconservatives, indomitable Reaganites, and the Mad Tea Party all inveigh against the federal government—its taxes, its programs, its bureaucracy, its regulations.  Unlike the political Left, they are not worried about domestic and international injustice, exorbitant military spending (the one portion of the national budget they would not reduce), or the diminution of civil

Is Religious Freedom a Casualty at Ground Zero?

by Kambiz GhaneaBassiri

New York City’s Landmark Preservation Commission’s unanimous decision on August 3, 2010, to allow plans for the construction of a mosque and community center

Hoarding and Most Economists

by Carmine Gorga

In the papers these days there are such headlines as this:  “Credit Pinch Drives Banks In Europe to Hoard Cash.”  Now that the epicenter of the crisis has shifted to Europe, we in America might have a more dispassionate view of the issues.  I would like for the reader to focus on this one word:  “Hoard.” From Moses to Locke, everyone knew about hoarding.  Ever since Adam Smith, nobody does.  Worse, since the days of Smith, economists are under formal obligation not to utter the

Postcard from Michigan: Budget Cuts, Budget Cuts, Budget Cuts for Public Universities

by Lester Stone II

Budget cuts remain a consistent sore in the operations and financial aid programs of Michigan's public universities. The recent budget cuts, according to Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University, began in 2002 at the start of Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm's administration, but are also a continuation of cuts dating back all the way to the 1960s. Joan Bauer, who represents Michigan's 68th District (located in northern Lansing), said that the recent

The Hidden Story Behind the Sherrod Case: USDA Racism

by Pete Daniel

The rush to dismiss Shirley Sherrod based on an edited video contrasts remarkably with the tens of thousands of cases of USDA bureaucrats denying African American farmers loans, jobs, acreage, information, and courtesy who were neither dismissed or reprimanded.  These racist actions have had enormous consequences.  The Pigford v.Glickman settlement of $1.25 billion suggests the monetary loss to black farmers who suffered discrimination, but it barely hints at the human

Sex, Intersex, and the Making of "Normal"

by Elizabeth Reis

Physicians have had a long, painful relationship with those born with intersex conditions, or atypical sex development.  Two recent controversies ha

Was the Newly-Discovered NYC Ship Used to Transport Slaves?

by Pearl Duncan

People are willing to rewrite the story of the Wall Street-World Trade Center area in New York without knowing its history from a few centuries or even a few decades ago.  But historical artifacts remind us where we’ve been. The remains of a 32-foot section of a wooden ship, estimated to be about a third to a half of the hull, was discovered at the base of the World Trade Center site in New York.  Archaeologists and scientists are collecting, testing and dating the wood of th

The Real Intellectual at Beck University

by John Willingham

To begin with, James R. Stoner, Jr., is a genuine academician, a full professor and chair of the political science department at Louisiana State University.  He has a PhD from Harvard.  He was appointed to the National Council on the Humanities by George W. Bush in 2002. And he is a man who should not be underestimated because of his affiliation with Glenn Beck, at whose “university” he is, officially, “Professor of Charity.”In his publi

George F. Will Continues to Take a Woodrow Wilson Quote Out of Context

by David Austin Walsh

While on my ritual skimming of the Washington Post this morning, I came across George F. Will’s latest column, based entirely on Peter Beinart’s latest book, The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris.  

George Steinbrenner: The Face of the Evil Empire

by Ron Briley

The baseball world seems divided into two groups:  those who constitute themselves as fans of the New York Yankees (the most successful of any professional sport franchise, wi181th forty American League pennants and