By John L. Micek – We already know Donald Trump thinks the presidency of the United States is “the ultimate reality show.” So is it really any surprise that the real estate magnate spent years posing as his own spokesman as he tried to plant favorable stories among the New York reporters who covered him…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — When I was an undergraduate student at the University of Alabama and the great Paul “Bear” Bryant led the football team to one championship after another, one of the cheers that always made the rounds at games went like this: “It’s great to be…
By Juan Cole – The revelation that the Central Intelligence Agency provided the tip to the Apartheid South African government that led to Nelson Mandela’s arrest should come as no great shock, though the public confirmation is perhaps surprising. Nor is it unconnected to the popularity of Donald Trump, who is proposing a new Apartheid…
By Bob Wells – One of the more confusing parts of being a Nomad is, if you have no permanent home, what state should you live in, what do you use for an address and how do you get mail? That’s always been fairly difficult but after 911 the heightened security around identification has made…
“By giving people the power to share, we are starting to see people make their voices heard on a different scale from what has historically been possible. These voices will increase in number and volume. They cannot be ignored. Over time, we expect governments will become more responsive to issues and concerns raised directly by…
By James Rhodes – HANOI, Vietnam – When I taught economics at the college level, my students learned that our capitalistic system which included production, industry, distribution and delivery systems under private ownership operated for profit. All decisions regarding supply, demand, price, distribution, and investments were made by the market and never by the government.…
By Glynn Wilson – We are closer than ever to answering the question: Are we alone in the universe? If there are other planets out there that could support life like Earth, NASA’s Kepler space telescope may find them first. Due to the most recent analysis of data from Kepler, launched in March 2009 and…
By Ethan Corey – A YEAR AGO, WHEN BERNIE SANDERS ANNOUNCED HIS RUN FOR PRESIDENT, few thought his bid would amount to more than a protest campaign. But today, after more than 2 million donors and 400,000 volunteers have helped Sanders build a highly effective political organization that has earned him victories in 18 states…
By Dick Polman – Here’s the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds….” And here’s the presumptive 2016 Republican…
Can we please retire the notion that Donald Trump is hijacking someone else’s party? – By Frank Rich – In mid-July of 2015, a month after Donald Trump announced his presidential run, I joined a gaggle of political junkies in a clubby bar four blocks from the White House to hear a legendary campaign strategist…
Who Will Hold Them Accountable? – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – There is so much rotten egg on so many faces in Alabama this week it is hard to decide where to begin. But I guess the biggest news is the egg all over the faces of just about every major law…
Making Sense – By Michael Reagan – Now comes the hard part. Now comes the part where Donald Trump has to appeal to everyone in the U.S. Trump will rack up lots of easy votes in the fall with his rabid fan base — older grumpy white males and their spouses who want change but…
By John L. Micek – One of them is a free trade-wary millionaire and political neophyte who locked up the Republican presidential nomination with promises to make America great and get the economy firing on all cylinders. The other is Donald Trump. As he’s insulted, ranted and bullied his way through the 2016 primary season,…
Texas Senator Ted Cruz Drops Out of Republican Primary Race for President – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – How is it possible that the mysterious assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 is still influencing presidential politics 53 years later? In an attempt to knock out his closest rival Ted Cruz…
What happens to the Bernie Sanders political “revolution” if Hillary Clinton wins the most delegates in the primary and becomes the Democratic Party’s nominee? Last week in Rome, Sanders was quick to tell ABC News that he would go back to his day job as a U.S. senator from Vermont if he is not the…
Back bone connected to the shoulder bone, 
Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone, 
Neck bone connected to the head bone
, And that’s the way it goes — Dem Bones – By Pippa Abston, MD – You probably recognize that verse — you may have sung this more recent secular version or the original by…
By Robert Reich – Wealth inequality is even more of a problem than income inequality. That’s because you have to have enough savings from income to begin to accumulate wealth – buying a house or investing in stocks and bonds, or saving up to send a child to college. But many Americans have almost no…
By Robert Reich – Will Bernie Sanders’s supporters rally behind Hillary Clinton if she gets the nomination? Likewise, if Donald Trump is denied the Republican nomination, will his supporters back whoever gets the Republican nod? If 2008 is any guide, the answer is unambiguously yes to both. About 90 percent of people who backed Hillary…
Watch this short video with an exchange between watchdog reporter Glynn Wilson and state Senator Trip Pittman – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MONTGOMERY, Ala. — This is an open letter to Alabama’s Republican Governor Robert Bentley asking him to please fully fund Medicaid. Dear Governor Bentley: I know times are tough.…
By Glynn Wilson – Perry Oliver Hooper Sr., the “baby daddy” of Nixon’s racist “Dixie Strategy” in Alabama, died Sunday at his home in Montgomery. He was 91. While he is being honored by Republicans all over the state this week, it might also be a time to remember the damage he caused. Hooper is…
