The one thing that you can say about Leonard Richards, 75, is that he is not your ordinary politician. Where politicians often run on putting people into jail on a tough-on-crime platform, Richards started with himself and is currently serving a life sentence in a Minnesota prison. While that would bar him from running for a state office, he can run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Continue reading “Minnesota Murderer Runs For U.S. Senate From Prison”
We recently discussed the seemingly endless examples of binary gender stereotypes in our society, including the scourge of hot wings. Now Virginia Tech Professor Cara Daggett seems to have found a form of toxic masculinity that is actually toxic: “petro-masculinity.” Daggett has an essay entitled “Petro-masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire” in Millennium: Journal of International Studies. She warns that fossil fuels are actually combustible mixes of “masculine identity” and “authoritarianism” among men. It seems the favorite GOP slogan of “Drill, Baby, Drill” is sexist on multiple levels. Continue reading “Virginia Tech Professor Warns Of “Petro-Masculinity””
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the most recent indictment of Russian military intelligence figures for hacking the computer systems linked to the Clinton campaign and the Democratic party. Once again, the indictment seems straightforward in what is says and what it does not say. Yet, the Washington spin machine quickly put forward highly distorted accounts, including media reports that worked hard to avoid acknowledging obvious elements of the indictment.
Here is the column: Continue reading ““O Goody Ruskies”: Mueller Finds Witches But Which Witches Are We Hunting?”
Over the course of the last year, I have been highly critical of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for his selection of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel and his failure to recuse himself from the Russian investigation. However, the most recent effort to impeach Rosenstein is unwarranted and unwise. According to news reports on Friday, Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio are preparing articles of impeachment to subject in the coming weeks against Rosenstein.
The University of Wyoming has long rallied around it mascot of the cowboy and it markets the school with the slogan “The World Needs More Cowboys.” That marketing campaign however has triggered a backlash against the mascot and objections that it is racist and sexist and culturally insensitive. Willie Nelson warned about this in his song “Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” when he sang “Them that don’t know him won’t like him. And them that do sometimes won’t know how to take him. But apparently not everyone agrees.”
Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on continued claims about undocumented immigrants and their legal status. There is a growing misrepresentation of the status issues that are deeply concerning. While undocumented status can be treated as a civil matter, it is also a criminal matter when a person enters the country illegally. Some politicians and commentators have been stating simply that all undocumented persons are non-criminals while others have suggested that persons are “perfectly legal” if they claim asylum even if they entered illegally. The point is that not all such persons should be treated criminally, but rather these statements can be dangerously misleading for families considering an illegal crossing. The Trump Administration has shifted enforcement toward greater criminal than civil enforcement. As for asylum claims, they are not the majority of illegal entries but the numbers are clearly rising. We are required under international law to consider such applications, but that does not mean that the entry was lawful or that such cases cannot raise risks of criminal enforcement. With so many lives at risk, we need to be more accurate in how we describe the legal realities of illegal entry.
Here is the column:
Continue reading ““Perfectly Legal”: The Perilous Rhetoric Of Immigration Politics”
The wonderful thing about seeing all social and political conventions as expressions of gender bias is that there are endless number of subjects for academic exploration. University of Tulsa’s Emily J.H. Contois, for example, has found toxic masculinity served by the platter in programs like the popular YouTube show Hot Ones. Contois suggests that the host of the show, Sean Evans, has a “white, heterosexual, cisgendered, everyman brand of masculinity.” Continue reading “Toxic Hot Wings? Tulsa Professor Raises Concerns Over Chicken Wings As A Form Of Toxic Masculinity”
We previously discussed the irresponsible proposal to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) by a rising number of Democratic members and leaders. It is the Democratic version of the equally irresponsible proposal from Republicans to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This type of pandering, demagogic call however was answered this week when the Republicans called the bluff of three members and actually put their bill to abolish ICE on schedule for a vote. Reps. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Parmila Jayapal of Washington, and Adriano Espaillat promptly declared the vote a stunt and said that they would vote against their own bill. Continue reading “ICE, ICE, Maybe: Democratic Members To Vote Against Their Own Bill To Abolish ICE”
It is bad enough that global warming may be slowly killing out planet, but what if the hotter it gets, the dumber we become in dealing with it? If a recent study is correct, that may be the case. According to Harvard researchers in n a PLOS Medicine article, the human brain functions 13 percent slower when it has to operate in extreme heat.
We discussed the arrest of Stormy Daniels this week and the curious Ohio laws making any touching between strippers and customers a crime, even the touching of clothing. The arrest was part of an operation with four undercover officers. The later dropping of the charges only deepened questions over the need for the string operation and the arrest of Daniels, who real name is Stephanie Clifford. Continue reading “Daniels Charge Dismissal Deepens Doubts About Police Sting Operation In Columbus”
Brian R. McNaughton, a former associate professor at Colorado State University, has been criminally charged for his alleged faking of an offer of employment from the University of Minnesota to secure a raise. That $5,000 raise became a costly addition as part of a criminal charge of attempting to influence a public official.
Paul Manafort is in the process of being transferred to Virginia’s Alexandria Detention Center to allow greater communication with his counsel. The transfer was accompanied with a new mugshot and transcripts of communications by Manafort on monitored prison telephones. This all occurs as an appellate court has turned down Manafort’s bid for an immediate release.
Continue reading “Manafort’s Mugshot Released With Prison Phone Transcripts”
It could be one of the most curious criminal charges of the year. Jonathan Crenshaw, 46, is an artist in Miami Beach who is accused of stabbing a tourist. However, Crenshaw paints with his feet because he has no arms. Continue reading “Armless Man Accused Of Stabbing In Miami”
The arrest of Stormy Daniels at an Ohio strip club in Columbus raises a credible question of selective enforcement of a 2007 state law called the Community Defense Act. The law prohibits dancers from touching customers and vice versa. It is a law honored mainly in the breach in strip clubs. However, the police appeared ready to pounce on any touch by Daniels and she was taken to the Franklin County Ohio Sheriff’s Office and charged with misdemeanor sex offenses. Update: Charges have now been dropped, though without an explanation of why the string operation and original charges.
Continue reading “Stormy Daniels Arrested Under Rarely Enforced Ohio Law [Updated]”
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. It seems likely that Kavanaugh will be confirmed absent some earth-shattering disclosure in the confirmation process.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “The Kavanaugh Nomination: Trump Selects A Robertsesque Nominee”