To hear John McCain or Sarah Palin say it, "liberal" is a dirty word. They can't help sneering when they say the Senator Barack Obama if "the most liberal" U.S. Senator. What does that mean, in terms of Senator Obama's positions on legislation, and how does that compare to...

The language of intolerance is not without consequences. Unfortunately, the intolerant are too weak minded to understand the consequences of their own words. So-called "conservatives", taking their cue from the "You're with us, or with the terrorists" jargon of their President...

The ruling by the California Supreme Court on Thursday, declaring full legal equivalence of same-sex marriage, is more welcome evidence that homosexuals are on their way to achieving equality as citizens under the law. The court ruled that California’s domestic partnership law, which provided virtually...

Well, I guess it was either that or write off the election. That’s a pretty tough choice, and I can understand why he did it. Barack Obama threw his ex-pastor under the bus today, right under the wheels. I can only imagine the pain on both sides of that event. Rev. Wright really didn’t help matters by...

Black faces scare the hell out of Republicans. (Let’s be honest, a lot of Democrats, too. Hey, they scare Barack Obama’s grandma.) Can we get over it? The honchos who run the Republican Party don’t mind African Americans, just ask them. They say they love their black brothers and sisters, and there’s...

On the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, many people, especially politicians, have felt obliged to look back at the Reverend through the gauzy fabric of his popular image, cultivated since that time by countless elementary school lessons taught in white suburbia. Most years, the...

The so-called “surge” is a perfect metaphor for the so-called “global war on terror”. For the last year, we have had to listen to the war hawks, notably Republican presidential candidate John McCain, mindlessly repeat - as if it would make it so - “The surge is working!” This week we saw demonstrated...

Senator Barack Hussein Obama has delivered this country a gift. He has opened the door to a serious discussion of the ongoing role of race, and racism, in our society. If all you’ve seen is the clips on the news, you owe it to yourself - you owe it to your country - to watch the entire speech. Don’t...

Geraldine Ferraro was, up to now, one of my heroines. There’s a Mondale-Ferraro button still buried somewhere in my sock drawer. She ran for Vice President and, to be honest, that was enough to secure her a place in my personal pantheon. Today, however, she fell from grace. I understand being passionate...