Columnists

The Public Eye: BTW, Conservatism is Dead

By Bob Burnett
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 05:32:00 PM

Recently there’s been a lot of speculation about why the mood on the right has turned so sour. Some observers attribute it to the lack of leadership at the top of the Republican Party, the surreal reality that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have more influence than do elected Republicans. Others say it’s a poisonous combination of economic angst and racial hatred. But there’s a more obvious explanation: we’re witnessing the death throes of conservatism. The right-wing ideology that ran the US for thirty years has proven to be a total failure and the passage of healthcare reform was the final nail in its coffin. -more-


Dispatches From The Edge:Behind the Afghan Fraud

Conn Hallinan
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 04:50:00 PM

All frauds have a purpose, mostly to relieve the unwary of their wealth, though occasionally to launch some foreign adventure: the 1965 Tonkin Gulf hoax that escalated the Vietnam War comes to mind. -more-


New: Senior Power: "Old People Don't Read Books"

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Sunday April 18, 2010 - 06:53:00 PM

The Rippowam River rushed by at the foot of our dank street, or, depending on the season, gurgled its way to Long Island Sound. I would sit on the stone embankment overlooking the water, ignoring the garter snakes in the crevices. The Ferguson Public Library children’s room was another 1932 shelter. Story hour was held in a separate room with a large picture window. I played stamping books, using a piece of black crayon stuck on the end of a protractor. It slipped off, jamming crayon into my palm, still imbedded there in a tattoo effect. -more-