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?
STROSTER: WBC is Winning (For Now)
The Supreme Court upheld the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to denigrate America’s fighting men and women. This is a victory for freedom of speech and not a victory for the hate-group. In fact, their judicial win may sow the seeds of their own demise — if society would start ignoring them.
PANDYA: Kagan on the Court, What Will Change?
Om Pandya, Columnist
Monday marked Elena Kagan’s first day on the Supreme Court. Despite never being a judge, her role as solicitor general and as a clerk more than prepared her for what she is to face. Her presence definitely will have a huge impact on the Court, so much so that Democrats are calling her the “intellectual counterweight” to Justices Roberts and Scalia. But because she was never a judge, her judicial philosophy is unknown and possibly incomplete. So where will Kagan pull the court?
HOLLINSHEAD: Sizing up Two Recent Supreme Court Decisions
Kevin Hollinshead, Columnist
On Monday, as the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court hopeful Elena Kagan began, the existing Court quietly issued two relatively significant decisions.
LIFSON: The Impending Confirmation Mess
Matthew Lifson, Columnist
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is about to take a punishing political beating from Republicans – and she may deserve it.
LIFSON: The Supreme Court Will Legalize Gay Marriage
As pundits guess who President Obama will nominate to replace retiring Justice Stevens, the issue of gay marriage is never far-removed from the conversation. The stakes are high because Ted Olsen and David Boies, former adversaries during the controversial Bush v. Gore case that stifled the Florida recount, have forged an unlikely partnership almost certain to bring Perry v. Schwarzenegger, their challenge to Proposition 8, before the Supreme Court within the next two years. But what few liberals or conservatives understand is that Justice Kennedy, the court’s swing vote, has already decided that legalizing gay marriage will be his legacy.
McCAFFREY: Summer of Stevens
Kathleen McCaffrey, Libertarian Republican
Justice John Paul Stevens resigned at an opportune time for Republicans. Even if he will be replaced by a liberal, the circus is coming to DC this summer.
CUEVAS: Separate Isn’t Equal
Jesse-Justin Cuevas, Liberal
Theodore Olson and David Boies are challenging Proposition 8 as a civil rights issue in front of the Supreme Court in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, and they aren’t saying anything new. Or so they say.
PHILLIPS: Campaign Finance and Corporate Money
Where is the line between free speech and corporate interference in elections?