All elected officials, and those who help finance elections in the expectation that certain promises will be kept — and everyone who cares about the rule of law — should hope the Supreme Court agrees to hear Don Siegelman’s appeal of his conviction. Until the court clarifies what constitutes quid pro quo political corruption, Americans engage in politics at their peril because prosecutors have dangerous discretion to criminalize politics. Read full article > >

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Is it bribery or just politics?

Mitt Romney’s recent losses to Rick Santorum in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota revealed a truism that Romney might want to study — but not too much! Parting with one’s dreams isn’t only sweet sorrow, it also can be liberating. Beneath the sorrow and alongside the liberation, one finds not only peace but often oneself. Read full article > >

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Mitt Romney and the power of losing

Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, one thing is increasingly clear: Boy, do the Republicans miss communism. For Republicans, being anti-communist didn’t merely mean opposition to the Soviets and their ideology. That kind of anti-communism was all but universal in the United States, from the Republican right to the small, democratic socialist left (and encompassing European socialists as well). For the 45 years after World War II, however, anti-communism was also the Republicans’ ultimate wedge issue in U.S. politics. Read full article > >

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The GOP scrambles for a bogeyman

The strong state of the District’s finances will be part of my State of the District address Tuesday. The latest Comprehensive Annual Financial Report showed that we ended fiscal 2011 with a $239.7 million surplus and that the city’s Fund Balance — its crucial rainy-day reserve — had rebounded to $1.1 billion. Read full article > >

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Saving surplus for a rainy day

We have seen the world created by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, and it doesn’t work. Oh, yes, it works nicely for the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, especially if they want to shroud their efforts to influence politics behind shell corporations. It just doesn’t happen to work if you think we are a democracy and not a plutocracy. Read full article > >

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The Citizens United catastrophe

The idea and practice of hijab are endlessly contested, by Muslims and others alike. As the recent discussions on altmuslimah suggest, there is no conformity of opinion about the veil. Cultural norms, religious interpretation and the individual exercise of faith all play roles in determining the ‘meaning’ of hijab. Nothing in past or present trends suggest that a single coherent definition or mode of practicing hijab will emerge.

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Many Layers: Examining The Complex Meaning of Hijab

Lately it seems that not a day goes by without a Republican presidential candidate portraying Europe as a socialist nightmare. Mitt Romney , Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum paint a picture of the Old World as unfree, strangulated by bureaucratic and inefficient welfare systems, and unable to reform and modernize. To these Republicans, Europe seems to be the antipode to everything America is meant to be. Read full article > >

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The GOP’s ‘Europe’ is a land of make-believe

In their debates, ads and speeches, the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are vying for the label of most Reagan-esque. On taxes, “I take the Reagan approach,” former senator Rick Santorum said at a recent Florida debate. Read full article > >

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Why the GOP should stop invoking Reaganomics

House freshmen have been on the job for almost exactly a year, and until now they’ve done little more than talk about cutting the national debt. But on Wednesday morning, eight lawmakers finally decided to take action. They scheduled a “major announcement,” invited the media and declared that they had a plan to reduce the deficit by — are you sitting down? — $1.5 million. Read full article > >

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House freshmen have a grand(standing) plan to cut the national debt

Dear Newt: These are difficult times for you, no doubt, and we understand that people sometimes say things they don’t really mean. We hope that explains your cruel comment about us here in Orlando this week. Read full article > >

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The media ♥ Newt Gingrich

Republican candidate Mitt Romney hopes to convert a solid opinion-poll lead into a resounding win over Newt Gingrich in Florida’s high-stakes primary.

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Republican rivals in Florida vote

The stories about Rick Santorum — to be precise, the stories about Rick Santorum’s 3-year-old daughter — tiptoe around the issue with all deliberate delicacy: Should he be running for president with a child so ill ? Is his decision to run, and his determination to stay in the race, a powerful example of Santorum’s devotion to the cause of life — or an especially vivid illustration of every politician’s overriding ambition? Read full article > >

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Santorum’s choice to run

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It was approaching 11 p.m. at the Hyatt hotel bar here on Sunday, and reporters covering Newt Gingrich’s campaign were enjoying a few drinks when a familiar figure approached. Gingrich put a hand on the shoulders of two women at the table and imparted a big scoop. “There’s a new poll coming out,” he announced. “I’m within five points of Romney. . . . I’ve got all the momentum.” Read full article > >

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The end of the road for Newt Gingrich?

This debate over economic inequality is getting confusing. Am I supposed to be furious that America charges Warren Buffett a lower tax rate than his secretary , or proud that this is the land that let an entrepreneur like Steve Jobs change the world? Read full article > >

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Down with rent, up with fairness

Whatever else they are, the super-rich have now become political props. We can thank President Obama and Mitt Romney for this. Obama thinks he can ride resentment against the rich into the White House for a second term; and Republican Romney’s fortune, estimated at $190 million or more, qualifies him as super-rich. Read full article > >

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‘Buffett Tax’ and truth in numbers