Autiello: Will True Christianity Please Stand Up?
Nick Autiello, Contributor
The notion that homosexuality is a sin and un-Christian is one that is less than a hundred years old. It is wrong, and has no basis in scriptural or historical reality.
SASSO: The Coming New Year
James Sasso, Associate Editor
As the tumultuous 2011 comes down to its final day, this column could contain an obnoxious summary of the year’s extraordinary events. Rather than once again discussing the protests around the world, the death of Osama Bin Laden, Fukushima, America’s political ineptitude, Europe’s demise or the increasingly frightful weather patterns, here I attempt to predict what 2012 holds in store.
SASSO: Kicking the Can
James Sasso, Associate Editor
For one of the first times in his tenure as Speaker, John Boehner has made a statement with which every American, Republican or Democrat, should fully agree; the two-month Senate bipartisan extension of the payroll tax cut fails to fix the nation’s problems sufficiently. Providing a short-term band-aid to a long-term dilemma contradicts what a responsible government should accomplish, but fits the pattern of contemporary American politicking.
CIOCCI: A Foolish Consistency
Mitt Romney is guilty of serial hypocrisy, Newt Gingrich is guilty of being a public intellectual constantly scrutinized by the media and others, and Ron Paul never ceases to remind me about one of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
AKMAN: Jon Huntsman’s Meaningless Campaign
Josh Akman, Columnist
Jon Huntsman did not participate in the CNN Debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. Short of his family and small (and getting smaller) campaign staff, no one really noticed. In a bizarre and counterproductive effort to impress New Hampshire voters Huntsman skipped the debate to protest Nevada moving its caucus ahead of New Hampshire’s, which has always been the nation’s first primary. It’s bizarre because no one else skipped the debate. It’s counterproductive because right now, Jon Huntsman is polling 6% in New Hampshire.
SASSO: The 99% Rising
James Sasso
Associate Editor
For the past month a movement has grown out of Zuccoti Park in New York with the potential to grab at the very heart of America’s problems. “We are the 99%” is not simply a catchy phrase used by frustrated jobless Americans , but a commentary on the disgraceful economic inequality that has arisen in the United States since the 1970s.
SASSO: The Political Court
James Sasso, Associate Editor
It is troubling that some of the justices seem to have already declared their support for certain cases that are to come before the court. Justice Breyer sidestepped a question about whether or not Justices Thomas or Alito make up their minds for those cases that are obvious fights between differing ideologies, even before they read or hear one argument in the case. Justice Thomas, with his disdain for asking questions during testimony and his wife’s involvement with the Tea Party (not to mention his personal friendship with a major benefactor of the Tea Party), raises many questions about the integrity of certain members of the bench. Do the justices actually address the issues at hand or merely couch their ideologies within veiled explanations of constitutionality?
SASSO: The Truth Will Now Be Revealed
James Sasso, Associate Editor
On Thursday, September 8, President Obama delivered a forceful speech that outlined his broad program to bring America back to work. While the speech did not deliver the full combination of stimulus and tax increases for which the liberal base had hoped, President Obama finally came out punching against the oppositionist Republicans who had done everything in their power to frustrate the President’s legislative agenda. Obama’s supporters and America in general, badly needed to hear from their Commander in Chief. With citizens’ trust in Washington approaching zero and fears of a double dip recession increasing, Obama had to demonstrate a serious, robust and, most of all, politically feasible strategy for creating jobs. And it did precisely that.
SASSO: The Obsession with “Normalcy”
James Sasso, Associate Editor
As the presidential primary season starts to take off, Republican candidates have latched onto the strategy of appealing to the “everyday voter,” or the “average” American. It is an interesting strategy, although not a new one. George W. Bush was seen as “a man of the people;” a President with whom an American would feel comfortable drinking a beer.
SASSO: Is President Obama Green?
James Sasso, Associate Editor
One of the most frequently lofted criticisms aimed at President Obama is that he has retreated from his promises of remaking the infrastructure of America to create a greener future. While many of the President’s promises made while on the campaign trail have not come to fruition (something which I half blame on the absurdly effective oppositionist strategy of Republicans and half on Obama’s desire to remain above the partisan fray), the lack of major environmental initiatives by Obama’s administration has left many of his young, ecofriendly supporters wondering why the environment is pushed continually to the side of important issues…Obama’s grand green vision, sadly, has proved to be more hope than change.
SASSO: The Avoidable and Pointless Crisis
James Sasso, Associate Editor
The passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011 demonstrates the futility and manufactured nature of the long-winded debt ceiling crisis. While it seems miraculous to some that the hyper polarized parties could come to an agreement, no one should be surprised of the end result. With bipartisan support in both Houses of Congress, this bill was the first major piece of legislation that passed without having to rely on purely party votes since the budget battle in March. Harry Reid called it a compromise bill…
Rather than giving any ground for a deal that would have actually begun to right the American ship, the hard-liner G.O.P. members decided that they could not be seen supporting tax increases with an important election on the horizon. For all of the Freshman Republican claims of not caring about reelection, they should actually say that they do not care about the stability of America. Instead, they only care about following their dogmatic, hardcore conservative ideology.
SASSO: A Yankee Goes to Arizona
James Sasso, Associate Editor
For a kid who grew up outside of New Haven, Connecticut, the availability of cold water was never something about which I had to concern myself. In fact, the opposite was often the case. The uncountable number of cold or lukewarm showers that I endured through frigid winters, during which I had to turn the water pressure nearly off to achieve even a bearably warm temperature, conditioned me to treat cold water in America as a priori.