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Why Miners Are Cynical About the Prospects for Reform

by Michael Punke

After some twists and turns in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congress this month will likely pass a new law to improve the safety of American mines. The law comes in response to a horrific year for mine safety.

"Activist Judges" or "Re-activist" Judges?

by Stephanie Coontz

According to President Bush, we must protect the institution of marriage by preventing"activist judges" from tampering with its time-honored traditions. But marriage has been in constant evolution for thousands of years. If judges and governments had not responded to the demands of ordinary people to democratize and humanize its rules and workings, few modern Americans would be interested in entering it. Until 200 years ago, marriage was based on the

Katrina Journal: New Orleans Now

by Günter Bischof

New Orleans’ election confirmed Ray Nagin as mayor on May 20 just in time for the beginning of the hurricane season on June 1st. The storm trackers predict a busy season of more than a dozen storms – typically culminating in the Gulf of Mexico in August/September. The anxiety in New Orleans is palpable. Will it happen again? Are our levees strong enough to protect the city? Will evacuations of the entire city be staged successfully? Is City Hall prepared? Is FEMA ready? Will the

CIA Director Michael Hayden: A Student of History

by Daniel Sauerwein

Recently confirmed CIA director, Gen. Michael Hayden (USAF, Ret.) not only has intelligence credentials, having served as director of the National Security Agency (NSA) from March 1999-April 2005 and as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence from May 2005-May 2006, but also possesses history credentials as well. Gen. Hayden graduated in 1969 from Duquesne University with a Master of Arts in History. He also received his Bachelors degree there as well as being a distinguished gradu

Are the Opponents of Gay Marriage Toying with Our Independent Judiciary?

by James C. Cobb

The uproar that exploded last week over Fulton County Superior Judge Constance Russell’s decision to overturn a 2004 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Georgia makes a mockery of our society’s professed belief in the need for an independent judiciary. More than 76 percent of voters supported the measure, but because it dealt with both gay marriage and the legal ramifications of same-sex civil unions, Russell ruled that, as it appeared on the ballot, the amendment was

If History Is a Guide, The Immigration Debate Is Going to Get Ugly Very Fast

by Mark W. Naison

As someone who has spent his adult life studying American labor history, I watch the unfolding of the current immigration debate with growing trepidation. As conservative demands for sealing of borders clash with the newly awakened immigrant community's demands for amnesty and liberalized migration rules, I can't help but think of a time after World War I when a nation panicked by the growing visibility and assertiveness of Southern and Eastern European immigrants passed the tightest immigratio

So Another Racist Finds Himself Behind Bars ... So?

by James C. Cobb

Coming close on the heels of the Senate apology for failing to pass one of the three anti-lynching measures laid on its doorsteps by the House between 1920 and 1940, the conviction of Edgar Ray Killen for the 1964 slaying of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County Mississippi marks another chapter in an ongoing drama of expiation and attempts to right some of the racial wrongs of the last century. In the space of a decade or so, we have seen successful prosecutions both of the murderer

Strangers in the Land: An Old Theme Replayed

by Dino E. Buenviaje

The United States begins the 21st century just as it began the 20th, by revisiting the debate on immigration and its impact on American cultural identity. The general boycott highlighting the plight of illegal immigrants on May 1, 2006, posed the question of what it means to be an American, a question that continues to polarize all Americans. Despite the hysteria concocted by cable news networks, this issue is as old as the Republic. While the topic of immigration reform is one that de

It's Time for Gun Control Proponents to Reclaim the Constitutional High Ground

by Saul Cornell

Few issues in America are more controversial than guns. Yet even among hot button topics in American public life there is something perverse about the dynamics of the debate over guns. Polling data for decades have shown that most Americans favor stronger gun laws. Indeed, surveys demonstrate that such policies are even supported by most gun owners. Yet pundits and political soothsayers have written off this issue because it is perceived to be a loser at the polls. Gun rights

Stop the Presses: An Old Government Cry

by Christopher B. Daly

Bush administration officials, according to a recent report in The New York Times (which must have been “leaked,” since it was not announced) are considering a plan to escalate their battle against leaks of classified material. Now, they reportedly want to bring criminal charges not only against the government employees who divulge the secrets but also against the journalists who disseminate the information to the public. Such a policy is described as a departure

Intelligent Design and the Place of Religiously-based Ideas in American Politics

by Hunter Rawlings III

On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered the most moving and probably the most significant speech in American history, his Second Inaugural Address. Lincoln used his presidential platform to give an anguished rumination on the purposes of the Almighty and the consequences for Americans, in both North and South, of practicing slavery. The Second Inaugural is, as many have pointed out, essentially a sermon. Its biblical, indeed prophetic rhetoric has had a powerful effect upon all subsequen

We Have Sung It in Many Languages

by Ralph E. Shaffer and Walter P. Coombs

From talk radio to the presidency, agitated Americans have expressed anger over the "desecration" of the Star Spangled Banner when undocumented residents sing it in Spanish. In the past, the anthem's translation into a foreign language was the least of the infamies that dismayed purists.The flap created by the Spanish language version is just another opportunity to bash immigrants who happen to be from the wrong countries. The anthem for over a century has been cheapened, insu

Lessons from the Past: Postwar German and European Reconstruction and the Rebuilding of Post-Katrina New Orleans and the Gulf Coast

by Günter Bischof

The National D-Day Museum -- on the occasion of the festive opening of its new learning center, the E.J. Ourso Discovery Hall – organized a one-day symposium on the topic of “Lessons from the Past for the Rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast: The Marshall Plan and the Reconstruction of Postwar Europe.” Nationally and internationally renowned scholars of the Marshall Plan debated with a member of the Governor Kathleen Blanco’s “Louisiana Recovery

The Polk Awards: Honoring Slain Journalists

by Thomas Fleming

Recently, I went to one of my favorite events, the annual George Polk Awards Luncheon. The awards are a series of prizes given to newspaper and radio and tv reporters for distinguished journalism.. They are named after the CBS reporter, George Polk, who was murdered for criticizing both communists and conservatives in the 1946 Greek civil war. On the tables, along with programs naming the winners of the awards, there were cards listing the names of the journalists who had

So Long Dr. Strangelove

by Kevin Mattson

To get a sense of just how much the Iraq War has radically altered the political landscape, consider the recent string of retired generals criticizing Donald Rumsfeld and calling for his resignation. One after the other the generals appeared in the press lobbing criticisms at the Secretary of Defense – the Bush appointee who serves as the civilian overseer of military action. Marine General Anthony Zinni, for instance, called Rumsfeld “incompetent, strategically, operationally, an

The Enron Era Scandals—What Happened to the Good Guys?

by Jerry W. Markham

The accounting scandal at the Enron Corp. touched off a media storm that President George W. Bush responded to with the creation of an Enron Task Force at the Justice Department. Its assignment was to track down executives at companies ex

Noncitizens Have the Obligations of Citizens--So Why Not the Right to Vote?

by Ron Hayduk

The growing immigrant rights movement has brought immigrants' struggle for political power center stage. The way to give non-citizens more political power would be to give them the vote. But voting is only for citizens, right? Not really. Although it's not widely known, noncitizen voting is as old as the Republic itself and as American as apple pie and baseball. Noncitizens voted from 1776 until 1926 in forty states and federal territories in local, state and even federal elections

San Francisco 1906 and Katrina 2005: The Increasing Costs of Unpreparedness

by Ralph E. Shaffer and R. William Robinson

The April 18 centennial of San Francisco's catastrophic earthquake is a good time for the nation to ask what we have learned about coping with the next natural disaster. As the faltering efforts from government and private relief agencies in the wake of hurricane Katrina continue to unfold, the answer would seem to be --"very little."   Katrina, followed by hurricane Rita, taught that predictable disasters must be planned for. In both San Francisco and New Orleans the cost of pre

Why President Bush Should Be Censured

by John Dean

Following is an excerpt from the March 31, 2006 testimony of Mr. Dean before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding Senator Feingold’s proposed Senate Resolution 398 Relating To the Censure of George W. Bush.Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I have set forth a brief overview of the testimonial subject where I feel I might be of assistance to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s consideration of Senate Resolution 398 relating to the censure of President George W. Bu

Should the U.S. Supreme Court Cite Foreign Precedents?

by William J. Flynn

The use of foreign law in U.S. courts continues to be in the news. Justice Antonin Scalia has been a forthright spokesman against outsourcing American law to foreign authorities. In contrast, other justices have expressed an openness to foreign sources to help decide issues arising out of modern developments not foreseen by the Founders. Their point of view has ample precedent in nineteenth century Supreme Court rulings on patents and women’s rights— precedents notable more for q