In his successful 1980 campaign for the presidency, Ronald Reagan prominentlyfeatured the prospect of welfare fraud, citing the case of a Chicago “welfare queen” whodefrauded the government of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since then, policing andpreventing welfare cheats has been a standard plank on the right, a reliable go-to forconservative politicians portraying themselves as…
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Late in his life, his body broken but his perspective perhaps broadened, GeorgeWallace may have regretted his career as a champion of racism. His daughter, PeggyWallace Kennedy, certainly thinks so. She has spoken poignantly of his contrition.But Wallace’s reputation never recovered. The man we remember is the one who stoodin the schoolhouse door, the man…
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Couy Griffin is no longer a county official in New Mexico. That’s because he failed the most basic qualification for an elected representative in a democracy: He participated in an insurrection to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after his candidate, Donald Trump, lost the 2020 presidential election. He was among those who broke through…
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In a much-watched video recorded in mid-August, a South Carolina Republican legislator — a member of the “pro-life” crowd— recites a litany of gloomy statistics related to the welfare of women in his state. Then, he appears to choke up as he recounts the frightening medical crisis of a 19-year-old pregnant woman there. Rep. Neal…
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MOBILE, AL. — You have probably heard about the sideshow put on by Alabama prison officials just before a scheduled execution late last month: A female reporter was hounded and humiliated over her skirt and her shoes. But you may have heard less about the main event, the execution, which was carried out despite pleas…
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