US politics

Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash found himself the target of intra-party criticism again, as a California colleague accused him of not being serious about his position and lying about the country’s surveillance policies in an interview published…

Featured

Top 10 Reasons GOP Benghazi Witch Hunt is just a Campaign Fundraising Ploy

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Since Obamacare is increasingly a wildly popular success, the GOP is flailing around looking for an issue, any issue to help fundraising for the fall congressional campaigns. In a vote that will live in infamy, the House GOP has decided to create a select committee to investigate the 2012 Benghazi consular attack […]

Economy

Rep. Paul Ryan targets Poor as his “Signature Issue”, and I do Mean Targets (Cartoon)

Juan Cole

By Paul Jamiol, from Jamiol’s World

Bill of Rights

Rep. Louie Gohmert: Constitution only fit for Americans who ‘cling to God and guns’

Juan Cole

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) recently asserted that the U.S. Constitution only applied to people “who cling to their God and their guns.” Speaking at a rally in Iowa for Republican Senate candidate Sam Clovis on Friday, Gohmert recalled that he had…

Constitution

The Death Penalty in the United States (Infographic, plus John Oliver)

Juan Cole

Death Penalty in the USA The Death Penalty in the USA. Produced from ArrestRecords.com —— Related video: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO): Death Penalty”

Bill of Rights

US Supreme Court: First Amendment is Only For Christians, Upholds State-Sponsored Prayer

Juan Cole

Welcome to the theocracy! Monday morning was a dark day for America. The Supreme Court set a frightening precedent in its finding that beginning legislative sessions with prayers does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. As…

Constitution

Taking Voting Rights from Felons preserves the Legacy of Slavery

Juan Cole

(By Pippa Holloway) Nearly six million Americans are prohibited from voting in the United States today due to felony convictions. Six states stand out: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. These six states disfranchise seven percent of the total adult population – compared to two and a half percent nationwide. African Americans are particularly […]

Featured

Jose Antonio Vargas’ “Documented” on Plight of Undocumented to air on CNN after Theatrical Release

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) I was privileged to see a special screening of Jose Antonio Vargas’s breathlessly awaited documentary, “Documented,” when I was in Los Angeles last week, and honored to meet Vargas himself along with executive producer Janet Wang (“The Joy Luck Club,” “The People vs Larry Flynt”). The film was shown in a class […]

Barack Obama

Obama Quips at White House Correspondents Dinner: ‘Orange is the New Black’

Juan Cole

CBSNews.com Web Extras: “President Obama skewers the press, pols, and Obamacare at correspondents dinner” AFP reports: Obama yuks it up with Washington reporters (via AFP) President Barack Obama cracked jokes about the government’s disastrous health care policy rollout and mocked political opponents at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The annual event, known informally as the […]