Red states are remaking the civil liberties landscape

From Florida, Georgia and Tennessee through Texas, South Dakota and Montana, Republican-controlled states are approving a torrent of culturally conservative hot-button legislation at a pace unmatched in recent times, and probably ever. States where the GOP controls both the governorship and state legislature are moving in unprecedented numbers to restrict […] Read more »

How restrictions on teaching about race and sexual orientation have ‘hijacked’ parents’ concerns about Covid

The pressures of the coronavirus pandemic are reconfiguring the politics of education, dividing Democrats and creating new openings for Republicans. Both sides of that equation will be on display Tuesday in a recall election for three school board members in San Francisco, one of the nation’s most liberal cities. The […] Read more »

Americans Offer Gloomy State of the Nation Report

Americans’ satisfaction with a variety of aspects of U.S. society and the state of policy in key issue areas remains subdued in 2022 after falling in 2021. In fact, in only one area — acceptance of gays and lesbians — are more Americans satisfied now than were in 2020, before […] Read more »

Why the coming confrontation on abortion will echo the battle over voting

The approaching legal and political showdown over abortion will reprise the key dynamics that shaped last week’s bitter Senate struggle over voting rights — and further inflame disputes between the parties over the filibuster and the role of “states’ rights” in limiting federal guarantees of civil rights and liberties. The […] Read more »

The Culture Has Moved Left… So the Right has Mobilized

It’s been a depressing six months or so for the left. Aside from Covid’s persistence and the resultant chaos, the progressive agenda beyond infrastructure and re-regulation of business seems stalled; the Supreme Court is charging rightward; and anti-democratic (as well as anti-Democratic) moves are afoot in many states. Savvy political […] Read more »