Author: Sara Robinson

Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Santayana’s warning is now such a persistent cliche only because it’s so painfully true. Where have we seen this kind of meltdown before? Oh, yeah, right—we’ve got those family snapshots of our grandparents waving at the camera from the edge of this very same […]

True confession: I was terrified on 9/11—for all the right reasons. I wasn’t afraid of the terrorists. There are plenty of countries where people have lived for decades under the constant threat of unholy acts of terror—and yet people still get on buses and subways and airplanes, and life goes on. I’d like to think […]

In the current issue of The Nation (which also featured a cover story co-authored by our own Bob Borosage), Chris Bowers pointed out a structural truth that lies at the heart of both American political parties. In the Age of Reagan, it came to pass that the GOP consolidated itself as the party of people […]

It almost seems like the Twin Cities cops are going way out of their way to create trouble, doesn’t it? We had our share of ugly police events in Denver—almost all of them resulting when party leaders ordered police to harass journalists trying to document swanky confabs between fat cats and industry lobbyists. But, even […]

This was the Campaign for America’s Future’s Big Afternoon at the Big Tent. CAF took over the Digg Stage (the entire upstairs floor of The Big Tent) for a series of four panels addressing some of the Big Questions we wrestle with here. One of the highlights for me was Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s presentation, which […]

This blog has been covering the shameful collapse of America’s infrastructure on almost a weekly basis, so it should come as no surprise to even our most casual readers that the physical structures and systems that support our entire way of life are in serious trouble. We all know the litany: the levees of New […]

Drew Westen and Mike Lux both have cogent and persuasive posts up that deftly explain — and raise the alarm about — the timidity that’s recently settled into Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Sen. John McCain’s shooting live rounds now; and, as usual, the Democrats are refusing to fire back. If that doesn’t change — […]

Obamaone1by dollarsandsense123 Having apparently decided that the hole isn’t nearly deep enough yet (which is to say: they haven’t struck oil, but they do seem have located a big fat gushing sewer main), the Republicans seem doggedly determined to keep digging. This new ad from the McCain campaign offends on so many different levels that […]

Los Angeles rocked and rolled its way through a 5.8 earthquake shortly before noon today. In California, that’s considered a good middling-size shake — enough to throw stuff off bookshelves, pop tile off the walls, instigate minor power and phone interruptions, and crack patios. It’s also enough to put a much bigger crack in the […]

We are an odd group, we Unitarians. Conventional wisdom says that we’re soft in all the places our society values toughness. Our refusal to adhere to any dogma must mean that we’re soft in our convictions. Our reflexive open-mindedness is often derided as evidence that we’re soft in the head. Our persistent and gentle insistence […]