DNC rules change leaves Lessig out of 2016 Democrat debates, forced to leave the race

Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig has ended his nascent bid to become the Democrats' nominee for president, despite some remarkable fundraising and outreach. Citing the Democratic National Committee's last minute rules change for qualifying to get into the party's next debate, Dr. Lessig says he is at a distinct disadvantage, one he sees no way of…

Ghosts in the machine – the GOP enters the spectrum of invisible light

The House Freedom Caucus is suddenly not far right enough for the extremists in the base of the Republican Party. Less than two weeks ago, it was their stubbornness that drove the House Republican Conference into disarray over the establishment leadership's inability to garner enough support to get Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) elected as…

Love and electability – the candidates come a-courting

You know you've felt it, the glaring double-take from friends who can't believe you are pulling for Bernie Sanders. "You know he's unelectable," they say, referring to his independent affiliation in Congress and his longstanding identification as a Democratic Socialist. Eight years ago, those were the people saying the same thing about Barack Obama. And…

The dismantling of the House GOP is constructive for all of us

The dome of the U.S. Capitol is surrounded by scaffolding, these days. They're calling it a restoration of a symbol of government. What's going on under the dome, though, is more a dismantling of a symbol of governing. The House Republican Conference is wringing their hands down to the metacarpals, and the enemy within, the…

‘Two dimensions of otherness’ – the Syrian refugee crisis migrates to America

"Each new American citizen brings a unique set of skills and experiences which they can use to improve our communities and our nation. And each of them can help renew our shared hope that unlimited possibilities are available to everyone who embraces the opportunities that this country offers under its Constitution." - León Rodríguez, Director…

Will the power of impassioned politicians work down-ticket?

Curiouser and curiouser. It's like Alice herself is guiding us through the United States of Wonderland's early primary season going into the 2016 presidential elections. Showmanship and passionate authenticity seem to be ruling the day, while establishment electoral politics sits bemused on a mushroom. Just how long can this go on? With the angry Republican…

The evil that police do – Darren Wilson and the family of Michael Brown

"He's evil." - Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, speaking to Al Jazeera America about former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, Darren Wilson When I went to Germany, eight years ago, my friend in Hanover was less than enthused when she found out we had been to visit the museum at the Dachau concentration camp, near…

Huckabee’s monolithic view will get him shoved to the exit door

For Christian evangelicals like Mike Huckabee, support for Israel is, and has always been, of a single purpose: to bring all the Jews to the tiny Mediterranean country so that they can make them convert or die, and prepare the world for the Second Coming. Pundits are calling the former Arkansas governor's remark about the…

Bernie Sanders heats up record crowd in Phoenix

Bernie Sanders drew 11,000 people to a convention center floor, Saturday night. You know, one of those cavernous spaces you could put a passenger jet in. It was the largest campaign event of any candidate this season, and it broke his record crowd of 10,000 in Madison, Wisconsin, a couple of weeks ago. But this…

Dying in custody – a most necessary conversation

Oh freedom, Oh freedom, Oh freedom over me And before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave And go home to my lord and be free Lulled and complacent among a couple of thousand righteous liberals and progressives, what should be seen is often easily hidden. The obvious remains obscured behind conversations…