Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE The negotiations and the sales push behind Washington’s latest (and biggest) “free trade” agreement amounts to Kabuki theater. What theater? Kabuki. It’s a 17th-century form of Japanese drama, featuring elaborate sets and costuming, rhythmic dialogue and stylized acting and dancing. That does, indeed, nicely sum up the White […]
Common Sense
Posted inOpinion
A flagrant liar for president?
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE We’ve got a new darling in the GOP presidential race: Carly Fiorina! Being the darling du jour, however, can be dicey – just ask Rick Perry and Scott Walker, two former darlings who are now out of the race, having turned into ugly ducklings by saying stupid things. […]
Posted inOpinion
Thieves get richer the old-fashioned way
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE With the 2016 presidential campaigns in full swing, the burdens of the working middle class have taken center stage. And believe it or not, there is bipartisan support from the front-runners on a key issue brought up over and over again. Donnie Trump is for it. Hillary Clinton […]
Posted inOpinion
Walker gives corporations the gold mine
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Meet Scott Walker, corporate whore and lousy gambler (with taxpayer money, of course). The Wisconsin governor says he should be America’s next president because he’s a proven budget whacker who, by golly, has dressed down teachers, slashed funding for higher education, busted unions and gone after welfare recipients. […]
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A monument fit for a robber baron
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Occasionally I see something that is so bizarre, so out of place, so wrong that I have to assume I’m hallucinating. For example, I could have sworn I was delusional when I heard about the National Park Service’s Pullman National Monument in Chicago. George Pullman? My mind boggled. […]
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Marriage equality moves from taboo to justice
From 1956 until 2010, CBS television’s daytime lineup included America’s longest-running soap opera: “As the World Turns.” But times change, and now a real-life human drama of profound importance has debuted in America: “As the Generations Turn.” It’s the inspiring story of our society’s continuing struggle to evolve toward dignity and mutual respect… as well […]
Posted inOpinion
How the grassroots derailed the TPP train
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest dismissed it as a procedural snafu, and it was – but not in the way he meant. The “it” was the stunning June 12 vote last week in the House of Representatives that wrecked that high-balling freight train called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP is the global trade scam that was […]
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Food, hotel giants peddle plastic authenticity
Near my home in Austin, Texas, there is a great, old refurbished motel that I recommend to people when they come to visit our fair city. It not only is right on the famed Congress Avenue but also has a keep-it-real attitude that is expressed right on its iconic marquee: “No additives, no preservatives, corporate-free […]
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The real scandal in Denny Hastert’s life
Washington’s establishment of politicos, lobbyists and media sparklies are shocked – shocked to their very core! – by the scandalous sexual revelations about Dennis Hastert. The portly Republican, who’d been Speaker of the House a decade ago, was an affable, non-descript Midwesterner who was popular with his fellow lawmakers. A former high school wrestling coach […]
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Obama’s ugly show of presidential petulance
When the going got tough, Barack got in a huff and then he got gruff. President Obama has worked himself into such a tizzy over the TPP that he’s lashing out at his progressive friends in Congress. He’s mad because they refuse to be stereotypical lemmings following him over this political cliff called the Trans-Pacific […]
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CNE syndrome strikes state governments
It’s well-known that harsh climate conditions can mess with your mind – from cabin fever to heat delirium. But America is now experiencing an even more dangerous mind-numbing disease called Climaticus Non-vocalism Extremism. Oddly, CNE syndrome almost exclusively afflicts a narrow segment of our population: Republican political officials and candidates. Scientific studies suggest that CNE […]
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‘Dr. Evil’ turns out to be ‘Dr. Silly’
Big Oil, labor exploiters, industrial food factories, frackers and other corporate profiteers have been paying a lot of money to a man that celebrates himself as “Dr. Evil” – the scourge of all progressive groups! But Rick Berman is not a doctor, not evil and not a scourge. While he is a wholly unprincipled little […]
