To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable
Health Care Politics Go Into Extra Innings
BY FROMA HARROP There was never much doubt that the individual mandate in “ObamaCare” was constitutional. As Harvard Law School professor Einer Elhauge had noted, the first Congress in 1790 passed a law ordering ship owners to buy medical insurance for their seamen. Twenty framers of the U.S. Constitution were members, and President George Washington […]
Here’s To The Yankee Doodle Liberal
BY FROMA HARROP In 1940, a Los Angeles jury released testimony linking James Cagney to the Communist Party, or at least to “communist members, sympathizers or heavy contributors.” He had supported something called the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, apparently not knowing that it was a Soviet front. Until old age, Cagney was an unapologetic liberal, who […]
Fox’s Brazen Star
BY JOE CONASON Forever incapable of embarrassment, let alone sober reflection, Karl Rove is very well suited to his current roles as Fox News commentator and Crossroads Super PAC smear sponsor. But he achieved a moment of near-perfection last week when, appearing on a Fox morning news broadcast, he spoke up about President Obama’s invocation […]
Hey Congress, What About The ‘Doug Jones Average’?
BY JIM HIGHTOWER To report on how our economy is doing, media outlets keep a constant eye on the Dow Jones Average. But they’re like cats watching the wrong mouse hole, for the great majority of Americans have between zero and next-to-nothing in the stock market. The economic measure that matters most to most folks […]
The War Against Battered And Confused Addicts
BY FROMA HARROP Rodney King’s best statement isn’t what he’s famous for. Twenty years ago, the African-American suffered a sadistic beating at the hands of white Los Angeles police, an event caught on tape. When the officers were acquitted of brutality charges, rioting convulsed largely black South Central Los Angeles. The pandemonium cost 53 lives […]
