Redefining Terrorism—Long before right-wing opportunists began using the building of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan to inflame public passions, federal law-enforcement was focused on a less conspicuous address. The “prayer house” on 1257 Siskiyou Blvd. in Ashland, Oregon, was owned by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Oregon, a Muslim charity that in 2001 was […]

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Reprising Molly Ivins “You could stand on the corner in Austin and spit across three Congressional districts because of what DeLay did.” —Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin quoting Molly Ivins   Austin, Texas I thought I had walked into the wrong courtroom. The electronic bulletin board that lists criminal defendants read: “DeLay, Thomas Dale.” The former […]

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Economic Amnesia—It is an article of faith among the Tea Party movement that the “socialist” policies of Barack Obama have had little effect other than adding to the deficit and federal debt. Studies by the Obama administration and the Congressional Budget Office have found that to the contrary, government intervention meant the difference between a […]

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Pucking Around With Science For a while, the hockey stick carried all before it, perhaps because it seemed to correlate well with the observed increase in carbon dioxide in the 20th century over its 10,000-year baseline. —From Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli’s brief in the Michael E. Mann investigation AUGUST WAS A GOOD MONTH FOR Virginia […]

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Yes and No—Yes. Last month J Street kicked off a national campaign promoting a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine deadlock. J Street is a non-profit advocacy group that describes itself as the “Political Home for Pro-Israel, Pro-peace Americans.” Far more progressive and eclectic than the entrenched American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC: “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby”), […]

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