The dream of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney has now been realized. Their solution””their idea for universal health care has been passed by both houses, signed by the president and upheld twice now by the Supreme Court. Yes, they call it Obamacare. Yes, they strangely call it socialism. But… Continue reading
Column: Rachel Dolezal is Acting Like a Child Abuse Victim Acts
In the wake of the Duggar molestation scandal and now the quirky case of Rachel Dolezal, one thing is clear: We as a public don’t know what child abuse looks like. The CDC estimates that one in four American children experience some form of abuse and yet we’re not quick to spot it or identify… Continue reading
Column: How McDonald’s Can Truly Be Modern and Progressive
In 1915, Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker, bought a hot dog stand in Coney Island and went about undercutting the boardwalk’s other restaurants by half. These five-cent sandwiches were so much cheaper than other offerings consumers were leery of their content. To counter this, Handwerker famously hired actors to wear lab coats and eat his hot… Continue reading
Essay: Ageless
Steam from my sobs plume around my head as I rifle through my pockets. I can’t find my bus pass! Panic consumes me. What am I going to do? The streetcar I’m supposed to take creeps up King Street on this wintry weekend before Halloween. What did I do with it?! I’m here in Toronto… Continue reading
Column: Thank You, Nebraska Republicans!
I’ve never quite understood why Republicans will jump to trash talk big government””gleefully calling to eradicate the IRS, NSA, EPA, CIA, etc.””all while embracing the death penalty. As the abundant field of GOP presidential hopefuls all vie to woo the same group of hyper-conservative white evangelicals which make up the party’s base, not one of… Continue reading
Column: The Bush Years: An Explainer
This week in Nevada, Jeb Bush accidentally declared he’s running for president to reporters. He was supposed to say, “if I run” and instead said, “I’m running for president!” So now that it’s official, I feel it’s my duty to explain the Bush years to younger/amnesiac Americans who may not remember what life was like… Continue reading
Column: Ms. Identity Politics
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced this week she’s running for president. She’s not the first woman ever to dive into the GOP’s Also-Ran Industrial Complex and (wink) attempt to become the (wink, wink) next president of the United States. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll last time around. So far, Carly’s the… Continue reading
Column: The GOP’s Daddy Issues
While running for president in 2012, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was chatting up some students at Otterbein University about how they could get ahead in this world. He offered that his friend, Jimmy John, borrowed $20,000 from his parents to start a sandwich shop. “This kind of divisiveness, this attack of success, is very… Continue reading
Column: End the War on Deadbeat Dads
I had a deadbeat dad. The kind of slacker so egregious””so blatant in shirking his responsibilities””that he and his generation of counterparts inspired a series of draconian laws to combat their “free spiritedness.” My father (I wince to refer to him as that) exists as a transitional fossil in the evolution of child support in… Continue reading
#CWA2015 Panel: Conspiracy Theroists Make the Best Storytellers
#CWA2015 Panel: Jon Stewart and the End of a Colb-Era
#CWA2015 Panel: Gays Saved Marriage
Column: Freedom Isn’t a Zero-Sum Game
It’s firmly in the Christian ethos to identify as being persecuted. Jesus stood up to the establishment and was tortured and murdered for it. To be a Christian is to worship a martyr. So it’s been easy for America’s religious leaders/politicians to convince the devout they too are under assault. That in a country of… Continue reading
Column: A New Era of Televangelists
This week, the junior senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, kicked off the 2016 Republican primary season at a university founded by televangelist Jerry Falwell. Liberty University’s students were mandated to attend Cruz’s announcement speech, so Senator Cruz enjoyed a packed house of attentive students accustomed to being preached at. “Imagine,” he asked, “a president who… Continue reading