When Newt Gingrich announced his resignation, he said he was leaving so the Democrats would not be able to use him as a poster boy . That Reasoning suggested that Gingrich was the only GOP figure with a persons guaranteed to chill voters, frighten children and upset family pets. Gingrich was well-known for his outsized ego and his strident partisanship, traits given heightened scrutiny because of his post as speaker of the house. But he is by no means the scariest Republican in congress. For Republican excess. If Gingrich wanted to shed his party of its frightening extremists (and there are several), he should have taken Georgia Representative Bob Barr with him. [continues 498 words]
When Newt Gingrich announced his resignation, he said he was leaving so the Democrats would not be able to use him as the poster boy for Republican excess. That reasoning suggested that Gingrich was the only GOP figure with a persona guaranteed to chill voters, frighten small children and upset family pets. Gingrich was well-known for his oversize ego and strident partisanship, traits given heightened scrutiny because of his post as speaker of the House. But he was by no means the scariest Republican in Congress. If Gingrich wanted to shed his party of a frightening extremist (and there are several), he should have taken Georgia Rep. Bob Barr with him. [continues 523 words]
THERE ARE forgotten neighborhoods in America where the holiday season imposes a distinct and peculiar ritual: Mom and the kids, or Grandma and the grand kids, pack up a few goodies in tin plates and paper bags, carefully wrapped in foil. They set out early for a visit preordained to be brief and circumscribed, its joy limited by the setting. They go to visit relative in prison. The places in America already decimated by poverty and economic collapse - the black and brown inner-cities - are also places where many of the young men are out of circulation. They cannot become taxpayers or decent parents or reasonable prospects for marriage. They will leave prison with criminal records that guarantee them limit job opportunities. [continues 457 words]
by Cynthia Tucker THERE ARE forgotten neighborhoods in America where the holiday season imposes a distinct and peculiar ritual: Mom and the kids, or Grandma and the grand kids, pack up a few goodies in tin plates and paper bags, carefully wrapped in foil. They set out early for a visit preordained to be brief and circumscribed, its joy Iimited by the setting. They go to visit relative in prison. The places in America already decimated by poverty and economic collapse - the black and brown inner-cities - are also places where many of the young men are out of circulation. They cannot become taxpayers or decent parents or reasonable prospects for marriage. They will leave prison with criminal records that guarantee them limit job opportunities. [continues 455 words]
IT IS tempting to blame the Paula Jones scandal for Bill Clinton's cowardice, but it wouldn't be fair. Clinton has always been a coward. Clinton's gutless refusal to fund programs that save lives by providing clean needles to drug addicts was not an inevitable result of a weakened presidency. Even if Clinton were not hounded by charges of sexual misconduct, he would be an unlikely savior of poor heroin addicts. They don't have the money to make campaign contributions and they don't have the demographics the president's pollsters like to see. [continues 468 words]
