The Speech Obama Should Give Tonight
If politics were as we hoped, President Barack Obama would use his national speech tonight to announce that he is instructing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass the strongest health care measure that can be achieved with 51 votes. In explaining why 60 votes is not required, Obama would recall the Senate’s infamous history of using anti-majority procedures to deny civil rights for African-Americans. He would also explain why democracy is subverted when 41 Senators are allowed to block the will of 59 of their colleagues, the President and a majority of the 435-member House of Representatives. Noting that Senate procedures allow the reconciliation process to pass key components of h

Marriage Equality Fight Proceeds on East Coast
When Maine defeated gay marriage last month, it again proved that the civil rights of a minority should not be put to the whims of a majority. Marriage equality is inevitable, but the public will have to get used to married same-sex couples before we see justice at the ballot box. That’s why current efforts to legalize gay marriage in the legislatures of New York and New Jersey – states that do not have an initiative process – are so critical. Our only obstacle now is Democratic politicians who are letting what happened in Maine scare them into backing off. Meanwhile, the Washington DC City Council is expected to pass a marriage bill today – despite

If Iraq Was ‘Dumb,’ How Smart is Afghanistan?
What About ‘Never Subdued’ Don’t We Get? Unlike campaign come-ons cast off, fudged or reversed, this President unstintingly commits to “finish the job" in Afghanistan, boldly gearing up a still mission-less, thus inexplicable “war of necessity.” Didn’t Vietnam forever teach both generals and voters no foreign occupation force, however fortified or plentiful, defeats indigenous, ferocious insurgents posing as “freedom fighters"? Ditto Iraq.

Belief in God Makes Our Country Less Prosperous
People always say that without religion, society would disintegrate into a barbaric state. A new study shows that they’re dead wrong. “First world democracies” in which people practice religion the least are prospering more than those that have a higher rate of religiosity. People are happier and more economically stable, for instance, in the Scandinavian countries where belief in religion is at an all-time low. The United States, on the other hand, ranks highest of the 17 nations surveyed in terms of religion, but at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to prosperity, according to independent researcher Gregory S. Paul’s study, “The Chronic Dependence of Popular

San Francisco’s 2011 Mayor’s Race: A Progress Report
While San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom battles the media, attention has turned to his successor. There are already four prominent candidates for mayor, with two other potentially strong candidates potentially joining the race. The two most clearly off and running are State Senator Leland Yee, a proven vote getter and fundraiser who currently has much of the Westside electorate to himself, and District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who would become San Francisco’s first gay mayor. They will soon be joined by the all but certain candidacies of City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Assessor Phil Ting. Two other current city officeholders are also possible candidates: Public Defender Jeff Adachi and