BY JIM HIGHTOWER Sam Rayburn, a longtime speaker of the U.S. House, once said, “Every now and then, a politician ought to do something just because it’s right.” Last week, 45 U.S. senators dodged an excellent chance to do just what Mr. Sam advised. At issue was a straightforward, common-sense amendment proposed by Dick Durbin, […]

BY FROMA HARROP As tornadoes, thunder and lightning rampaged across the Heartland last week, the crowds piled up at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Every bar stool had someone on it, and restaurant lines stretched down the corridors. This was a bizarro world, where the airport workers kept arriving and leaving, and only the travelers stayed put. […]

BY SUSAN ESTRICH Now it’s not just your mother telling you or the school nurse, but your president. Wash your hands. Cover your mouth. Don’t go to school if you’re sick – that’ll be tough to enforce! And for goodness sake, take a deep breath. You, too, Mr. Vice President. The vice president joined the […]

BY JOE CONASON In the turbulent imagination of the hard-core conservative, American foreign policy should be about telling off the rest of the planet. According to the right-wing mind-set, a manly foreign policy would curtail any effort at seeking influence abroad, cut off assistance to developing countries, forget about improving our global image and, above […]

BY FROMA HARROP In a Q&A last year with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, former Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Toomey was asked what book he wanted Barack Obama to read. The Republican quickly recommended the work of Adam Smith, the 18th Century economist and philosopher who held that individuals promote the good of society when they pursue their […]