Category: Reading List

Once Again Trayvon’s Parents Wait For Justice

July 10, 2013 - Reading List, Top Stories

Please click this photo to read Mychal Denzel Smith’s latest at the nation…

As usual Mychal Denzel Smith writes so eloquently on the George Zimmerman trial for The Nation…

Because even a guilty verdict is only a consolation. It would send a one-time message that a black child’s life had value, but it would hardly shift the tide from the constant dehumanization. We would still be up against the same system—no only our criminal justice system but a larger cultural sytem—in which it was prudent to test Trayvon for drugs but not Zimmerman, that would ask a grieving mother if her son did anything to cause his own death, and that didn’t see fit to make an arrest for nearly a month and a half.

via What Does #Justice4Trayvon Look Like? | The Nation.

We were lucky he took time from his schedule covering the trial to talk with us. Listen to my conversation with him down below…

Ten Reasons No One Should Lionize Justice Kennedy | ThinkProgress

July 8, 2013 - Reading List, Top Stories

Click on this picture to read Ian Millhiser’s latest take down of Anthony Kennedy.

Ian Millhiser’s great piece on Justice Anthony Kennedy is a must read. We talked about it with Ian on today’s show.

Ten Reasons No One Should Lionize Justice Kennedy | ThinkProgress.

Listen to my conversation with Ian below:

10 Best and 10 Worst Democratic Freshmen

July 6, 2013 - Reading List, Top Stories

Click on this picture and start reading Howie Klein.

Howie Klein has a great post today on his Down With Tyranny blog which is a must read for everybody.

The best freshman and the worst freshman each comes from Florida. Overall best is Alan Grayson, more than just a good voter– a real leader and organizer. And please do watch that video up top. Ironically, the worst freshman, Patrick Murphy, is also a leader and an organizer– he’s leading other freshmen, really dumb ones, astray and organizing to help push through Boehner’s toxic agenda. But let’s get to the roll calls that we counted in assessing each freshman.

via DownWithTyranny!: Midterm Report: The Best and the Worst Democratic Freshmen.

Howie’s on our show all the time, I’m proud to say. Check out our most recent conversation

Top 10 Reasons Women Should Hate All Men

July 6, 2013 - Reading List, Top Stories

Tim Murphy writes for Mother Jones and was a great interview last month. Here’s his latest from Mother Jones:

State Sen. Dan Patrick (R): Defending his party’s chaotic effort to force through a vote as the session was ending, the founder of the state’s tea party caucus told former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on his radio show that lawmakers had an obligation to ignore proper Senate rules and procedure if it meant saving fetuses: “I spoke to my colleagues and said, when Jesus criticized the Pharisees, he criticized them because their laws and their rules were more important than actually taking care of people. And in my view, stopping a debate to save thousands of lives, well, saving the thousands of lives is more important than our tradition of, well, you should never stop someone.”

The 10 Most Absurd Things Texas Republicans Said About Abortion This Year | Mother Jones.

Listen to my conversation with Tim below:

George Zimmerman Tip Of The Iceberg

July 5, 2013 - Reading List, Top Stories

Please click on this picture to read Nicole Flatow’s blog…

Nicole Flatow covers justice for Think Progress and has a great piece today on the fallacy that guns keep you safe.

In the wake of the Newtown Shooting, the National Rifle Association perpetuated messages that more guns would have prevented shootings like Newtown, and has warned repeatedly that gun confiscation is imminent. But existing research shows that civilians with guns have been wholly ineffective at blocking mass shootings, and that more guns means more homicides. The bugaboo of widespread gun confiscation, meanwhile, has been flatly rejected by lawmakers and the U.S. Supreme Court. These fears have nonetheless prompted a wave of new lax gun laws, gun purchases, and gun permit applications, with many saying they feel safer carrying a gun.

via Concealed Carry Applications Approach Record Pace In Many States | ThinkProgress.

She’s a constitutional scholar who speaks clearly. My conversation with her below…

Here’s Why IRS Scandal Is Not A Scandal

July 5, 2013 - Reading List, Top Stories

Please click on this picture to read Andy’s latest…

Andy Kroll covers dark money for Mother Jones. Today he shines a light on why precisely the IRS “scandal” targeting Tea Party groups is nothing more than republicans cherrypicking what the IRS does to everybody.

You’ll remember that the Treasury Department inspector general report that first looked at the “targeting” of groups with “tea party” and “patriots” in their name found no evidence of political bias. At the time, Republicans in Congress didn’t buy that. Clearly, they argued, this was the work of anti-conservative IRS staffers, or a meddlesome Obama White House looking to suppress its opponents in a closely fought election year. Then we learned that the manager of the IRS Screening Office in Cincinnati, where most of the alleged targeting took place, identified himself as a “conservative Republican.” Still, Republicans forged onward.

via Even Republicans Admit It: Politics Did Not Drive the IRS Tea Party “Scandal” | Mother Jones.

My conversation with Andy below:

The David Feldman Show