Tag: Michael Winship

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Resting Place

The release of the new movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby has renewed interest in the troubled life and early death of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. There’s also the question of how much he was paid for his materwork and the issue of…

The Lure of Violent Revolution

It’s become trendy in some circles mostly on the Right since the election of the first African-American president but also a bit on the Left to talk breezily of armed revolution. But bloodshed is wrongheaded and reckless when political space remains for…

Gun Madness v. Gun Sanity

As the gun carnage continues across the United States, the Right won’t stop peddling its bogus historical claims about the Second Amendment and rallying its gullible supporters to fight even modest safety laws. But victims of gun violence are finally…

The Special-Interest Congress

Special interests with lots of money continue to be heard in Congress; the average citizen not so much. Thus, corporate tax breaks are protected while programs to help people and build the country are cut, as Bill Moyers and Michael…

Dr. King’s Warning of ‘Two Americas’

Besides battering down the walls of racial segregation, Martin Luther King Jr. demanded that America address its  economic barriers to fairness and justice, a challenge that may have earned him even more contempt from the power structure, as Bill Moyers…

Watergate’s Washed-Away Lessons

The Republican Party that emerged from Vietnam and Watergate was determined to obliterate the lessons learned, and the Democrats veered between timidity and complicity as those lessons were unlearned. Now, the key lessons are more reminiscence than real, as Michael…

Jack Lew’s Footprints in Cayman Sand

Jack Lew, the new U.S. Treasury Secretary, follows in the footsteps of other Wall Street insiders to hold that position. His Cayman accounts and “golden parachutes” also may make it hard for him to put himself in the shoes of…

The Ever-Spinning Revolving Door

Federal conflict-of-interest laws restrict what former government officials can do if they leave to take jobs as lobbyists, but there remains much flexibility both in Washington and state capitals for the revolving door to keep spinning, say Bill Moyers and…

The SEC’s Golden Revolving Door

Many Americans are still shocked that Wall Street bankers who ruined the economy escaped any serious punishment from government regulators. But one problem is that many of those regulators, including the new choice to head the SEC, have been rotating…

The Hubris of the Drones

In his State of the Union, President Obama vowed to continue the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan, much as he did in Iraq. But his reliance on lethal drone attacks to kill suspected terrorists has raised many other…