Politics
Coretta Scott King: Jeff Sessions Would ‘Irreparably Damage’ My Husband’s Work
"[I]t is my strongly-held view that the appointment of Jefferson Sessions to the federal bench would irreparably damage the work of my husband, Al Turner, and countless others who risked their lives and freedom over the past twenty years to ensure equal participation in our democratic system." The late Coretta Scott King famously opposed Sessions’ 1986 nomination to a federal judgeship in Alabama. But because then-Judiciary Chairman Strom Thurmond (R-TN) had never entered her 1,800-word letter testifying against Sessions into the congressional record, no copies were publicly available as Sessions faced his Senate colleagues on Tuesday morning. more »
Stream Protection Rule ... Passed and Overturned in a Few Weeks .... Sad
In its first few days in session, Congress has used a backdoor tactic known as the Congressional Review Act to eviscerate a clean water protection that took years of scientific research and public engagement to create. The Stream Protection Rule was a common sense safeguard that provided the monitoring of streams near coal mining operations — many of which feed into drinking water sources — for pollutants such as lead, arsenic, selenium, and manganese. more »
Jo Freeman Writes An open letter to Donald Trump about the Women’s March on Washington
The sea of signs kept coming and coming and coming. As I watched the crowd and read the signs, I thought about many of the things you have said. One sign said “WE are what makes American Great.” Another proclaimed "Love not Hate will make America great." These reminded me of your campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" which you adopted from Reagan’s 1980 campaign. Historically, America is great when America is good, not when America is greedy. What can you do to make America good? Build doors, not walls. Be kind, not cruel. Will you do those things? Will you make American really great, not just illusorily great?" more »
Jo Freeman: Protesting An Inaugural
Jo Freeman writes from Inauguration Day's protests: Protesting the inauguration of a President has become a tradition. While those who shouted "not my President" and other things as Donald Trump ascended to the highest office in the land clearly did not like him, most of them would have demonstrated had it been Hillary Clinton who took the oath. The inauguration is a soapbox because it attracts press looking for stories. This gives protesters an opportunity for a national voice for their issues that they usually don't have. more »