AltWeeklies Wire
The Contrarian Manifesto
Acting like Chicken Little proven right — this time, the sky really is falling — government and business are making decisions that are the exact opposite of the right ones.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
02-02-2010 |
Commentary
'Cannabis Closet': One Utah Legislator Steps Outnew
A local activist identified the first legislator who is willing to speak openly about the medical benefits of the Earth's most controversial herbal remedy: marijuana. "We're pro-neutraceutical here [in Utah]," says Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck.
Salt Lake City Weekly |
Jesse Fruhwirth |
02-02-2010 |
Politics
After Massachusetts, What Will Democrats Do?new
Republicans and conservatives are ecstatic that Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate and that the Supreme Court has put the fix in on elections. I'm troubled by both. But I'm also troubled by Democrats who don't seem to know what they want, and who are in a panic over Scott Brown's victory.
City Newspaper |
Mary Anna Towler |
02-02-2010 |
Commentary
Gunning For the Job: Todd Evans for El Paso County Sheriffnew
Todd Evans, the Republican Party's leading candidate for El Paso County sheriff, tried pot as a teen, twice shot suspects, and currently runs security for Colorado Springs Christian Schools while also serving as a bodyguard for a movie star he won't name.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Pam Zubeck |
02-02-2010 |
Politics
What the Supreme Court's Decision Means For Younew
Citizens United should not be seen as the death knell of campaign finance reform. Indeed, this decision is so unprecedented and far-reaching that it could be the catalyst that prompts elected officials to start taking money-in-politics reform more seriously.
INDY Week |
Chase Foster |
01-28-2010 |
Commentary
Obama Needs to Get Tough and Follow Throughnew
The president is getting the usual bad advice from Democratic "moderates" who say Obama needs to scale back his agenda to mere Clinton-esque "little steps," and be satisfied with "more modest expectations."
Creative Loafing (Charlotte) |
John Grooms |
01-27-2010 |
Commentary
Cable TV vs. America: The Problem With Paid-For Punditsnew
When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933, the United States economy was in a state of near-collapse, with the nation's banks about to close. The new president came into office having pledged to balance the budget and reduce federal spending, but quickly realized that would have meant disaster.
Metro Times |
Jack Lessenberry |
01-27-2010 |
Commentary
Was Haiti's Earthquake Actually a Man-Made Disaster?new
People don't die because earthquakes shake them. For the most part, people die in earthquakes because the buildings they're in fall on top of them. By and large, Haitians lived and worked in shoddily built structures.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta) |
Andisheh Nouraee |
01-26-2010 |
Commentary
Professor Helps Mainstream a New White Supremacist Political Partynew
At that summer IHR meeting, professor Kevin MacDonald began shedding his regular-guy façade. And with his introductions to Freedom 14 and other local neo-Nazis at that conference, he began the first steps toward emerging as a full-fledged bigot.
Supreme Court Ruling Could Influence Connecticut Campaign Lawnew
The new U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning federal bans on corporate political spending is creating a firestorm of protest, and disagreements here in Connecticut about how it might impact legal challenges to this state's landmark public campaign financing program.
New Haven Advocate |
Gregory B. Hladky |
01-26-2010 |
Politics
Is Obama Going To Force Leftists To The Center?new
Dean didn’t say this, but I will. Calling someone a Nazi is harsh, yet Republicans nowadays embrace parts of the Nazi ideology, which is a peculiar mixing of racism and phony populism. In hard times like we got, it sometimes works.
Random Lengths News |
Lionel Rolfe |
01-22-2010 |
Commentary
Can Alexi Giannoulias Make it to Washington, D.C.?new
Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias leads the pack of Democrats running for U.S. Senate, but can he overcome criticisms concerning his time at the family bank and in office?
Illinois Times |
Patrick Yeagle |
01-21-2010 |
Politics
How Scott Brown Was Able to Win in Massachusettsnew
As the Massachusetts U.S. Senate election unfolded, all that the pols and pundits wanted to talk about was how Martha Coakley managed to lose the race. But there is another part of the story, and that is how Scott Brown managed to win it. To pull off this kind of upset, a lot of things have to go right.
Boston Phoenix |
David Bernstein |
01-20-2010 |
Commentary
'Vampire King' Jonathon Sharkey running for Minnesota governornew
Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey has big ambitions. The self-described king of the vampyres just got out of an Indiana jail cell after cooling his heels on a conviction for threatening a judge. He's resting up in Tampa before heading home to New Jersey.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Hart Van Denburg |
01-20-2010 |
Politics
Meet the Invisible Hands Behind Some of Minnesota's Biggest Billsnew
There are few things lawmakers like talking about less than the lobbyists they work with on a daily basis. This despite the fact that lobbyists write 90 percent of bills, clue legislators in on what backlash they can expect, and prep lawmakers on minutiae they don't have time to ponder.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Matt Snyders |
01-20-2010 |
Commentary
