ronald reagan

Neo-con, pragmatist, exceptionalist… but not a visionary.

In many ways, The Rich and the Rest of Us is political sustenance for the already converted to liberal and leftist causes. Quoting historian Howard Zinn and looking to the insights of filmmaker Michael Moore probably will not convince many conservatives to rally to the cause—and when Smiley and West rely on Barbara Ehrenreich, they are drawing upon a fellow dissident. Put simply, they are preaching to the choir—but choirs need encouragement too. This is what Smiley and West accomplish: they provide the Occupy generation with a text to rally around.

Give me some Thomas Aquinas, he tells National Review.

Will the Southern Baptists’ point man in Washington lose his key demographic—journalists?

Is the faith-talking, centrist, “new breed” of Democrat like Heath Shuler on its way out?

Bruce Springsteen channels John Winthrop.

Over the past several years, Black and Latino fundamentalist anti-abortion groups have vigorously aligned themselves with the white religious right in the battle to take down family planning. The current furor over the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to withdraw funding for Planned Parenthood highlighted the role of Eve Sanchez Silver, founder of a little-known group called the International Coalition of Color for Life. According to the Los Angeles Times, Sanchez Silver, a former medical research analyst for and charter member of the Komen Foundation, has been a leading advocate against Planned Parenthood within Komen.

The latest Bloggingheads.

In a video released on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin insists that violent rhetoric plays no role in influencing actions while claiming that those condemning the use of angry rhetoric and images are themselves manufacturing a “blood libel” that may well “incite…violence.” So which is it?

At this moment the embattled US labor movement urgently needs strong community-based allies and much greater moral legitimation, yet broad-based strategic and moral support from the religious side has been slow to materialize.