Feingold v. Citizens United

Former Senator Russ Feingold has taken on Citizen's United by founding Progressives United:

Launching on Wednesday, Progressives United is an attempt to to build a grassroots effort aimed at mitigating the effects of, and eventually overturning, the Supreme Court's infamous Citizens United decision that opened the floodgates to corporate spending in the U.S. electoral system. In addition to online mobilization, the political action committee (PAC) will support progressive candidates at the local, state and national levels, as well as holding the media and elected officials accountable on the group's key priorities.
Here's more on Feingold and his new organization from Huffpo.

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When does a man become a man?

When does a man become a man? Biologically, I guess it's when he can reproduce - a point in development that varies from person to person. As does when he can grow a beard. But there are other milestones: At 16, he is usually eligible to apply for a driver's license (14 years three months for South Dakota, with restrictions; 17 if in New Jersey, and variations across the spectrum in the US). The age of 18 is a good one. He can then vote! Oh, and also sign up to defend his country and maybe die in its service (17 if given signed permission by a parent or guardian, though still not able to vote quite yet.) In September 2008, 12.2% of the Coast Guard, 14.4% of the Air Force, 18.3% of the Army, 18.6% of the Navy and a whopping 36.9% of the Marine Corps were between the ages of 18 and 21, with an average across all the services of 86% of them being male. It's a lot of responsibility for those so young. Why did I pick the range 18-21? Old enough to vote and fight... ...but this man we're profiling can't drink until he's 21. Or can he? The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 (23 U.S.C. § 158), only prohibits

the purchase or public possession in such State of any alcoholic beverage by a person who is less than twenty-one years of age
(or the Feds withhold highway funds for states that don't comply). But notice the wording! "Purchase or public possession". The Code section is called "National Drinking Age", but drinking was not prohibited! According to Wiki, 15 states and D.C. ban underage consumption, but 17 don't at all, and the remaining 18 have some conditions that allow it. I hope my 20 year old "minor" who can go die for his country isn't reading this! (Wiki has a summary if you want to know the laws in your state.) Note, said 20 year old already knows the law in Texas, which by the way allows that a minor can drink, not purchase, alcohol when in the physical presence of an adult parent, legal guardian or spouse - "adult" apparently meaning over 21. The car insurance companies think he's a man at 25, because that's when he's responsible enough to get out of the actuarial grouping of high risk and catch a break on those premiums. But the real kicker that floored me this past year was one few know about. I obviously didn't. It's the age of 24. My son, who owns his own house and hasn't been a "dependent" on my tax return for a couple of years was applying online last year for financial aid through FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). He called me and asked for my income information. My answer? "You don't need that." But apparently he did. The site wouldn't let him proceed without it. I checked. Twice. Then I checked the law. He was still dependent as far as federal financial aid was concerned. And up the proverbial creek without that stirring stick, because while he qualified hand over fist on his own (which he has since July 2009), factor in my income and he gets diddly. He turned 24 yesterday (an auspicious day...shares a birth date with Darwin and Lincoln among so many others) thus now is a man. By financial aid standards. And drinking age. And militarily...voting...driving...biologically. (And the dude's been growing a full beard since he was 15.) Happy Birthday, son. Welcome to manhood. Again.

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Because Sometimes Things Are Forgotten That Shouldn’t Be

This is a completely personal anecdote, so take it for what it's worth. This is about a defining moment for me in my education as an egalitarian. Equality is something we talk about, we assume to be the case for everyone, and never really question. Here, it's the air we breathe. It's not true. We are not all equal. And in spite of our all our lip service to the idea of equality under the law or the equality of opportunity, we all know, if we're honest, that we're still trying to get to that level. Probably it's a function of how well we think our lives are at any given moment. "If I'm doing all right, there's no problem. What are those people over there complaining about? I don't see anything wrong with my life." Well. This is about gender equality. It's one of the most under-considered things in our present world. I saw a PBS special last week about early television and on it Angie Dickinson was talking about her series Police Woman. Breakthrough television. It had been the first dramatic tv show since the mid-60s to be headed by a female in prime time. It was shortly before Charlie's Angels and a decade after both Honey West and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. During the interview, Dickinson commented that the feminists had been angry with her because she hadn't used the show as a statement for the cause. She defended herself by declaring that she was feminine not a feminist---as if being a feminist were somehow a bad thing, a dirty word, a slur. [More . . . ]

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Taking back the Constitution

In the February 7, 2011 edition of The Nation, Garrett Epps argues that the political right is trying to steal the United States Constitution "in plain sight," and that it's time to take it back because it belongs to all of us. His article is titled "Stealing the Constitution: Inside the right's campaign to hijack our country's founding text--and how to fight back." Epps argues that it's time to counteract the "poisonous rubbish" that the far right's self-appointed constitutional "experts" are teaching well-meaning citizens. One of those "experts" of the far right is United States Supreme Court Justice Antonio Scalia, who has just agreed to serve as a faculty member for Michele Bachmann's new "Constitutional School" for new members of Congress. How has the political right been able to successfully portray itself to be the only party that can meaningfully define the Constitution? One big reason is that legitimate constitutional scholars are unwilling to step into the fray in a public way. Instead,

Scholars from top schools hold forth with polysyllabic series of hermeneutics that ordinary citizens can't fathom. Meanwhile, conservatives don't hesitate to speak directly to the public-and, often, to dumb down the Constitution. They purvey a simple method: anyone who doesn't support the far right version of the Constitution is at best unpatriotic, at worst a traitor.

[More . . .]

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The mission of The Nation

For consistently high quality commentary on national issues, I read The Nation. In the January 24, 2011 issue, Editor Katrina Vanden Heuvel examines the magazine's mission.

We've helped build a society that is more socially tolerant than it was a quarter century ago, but when it comes to public policy, economic outcomes and control of government, the story is different. The broad movement of American politics in recent decades has been toward greater inequality, the discrediting of public institutions in a near idolatry of private markets at the expense of corporate accountability. I believe this is a pivotal moment for The Nation. Launched in the days after the Civil War, in July 1865, this magazine is one of the few long-standing media institutions that have worked to bring about lasting social and political change. In the time ahead we will need to rededicate ourselves to our mission by confronting and countering misinformation, bigotry and greed with tough, intelligent and principled journalism while sewing new and alternative-often heretical-ideas.… In some ways, this work will necessarily be defensive or oppositional.… The late Studs Terkel, a true friend of The Nation, believed that hope was not simply optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good and worth working for.

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