This week, PBS premiered part one of a four-part series on the Constitution. In it, Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, rode around America astride a decked-out flag motorcycle to investigate the Constitution in modern America. And the first leg of his journey was surprisingly good. …
One hundred years ago this week, 5,000 women marched for women’s suffrage in Washington, D.C. The goal was to “give expression to the nation-wide demand for an amendment to the Constitution enfranchising women.” A few years after the parade, the 19th Amendment was ratified, which guaranteed that the right to …
Instead of celebrating George Washington’s birthday, today we’ve lumped him in together with no-names including Millard Fillmore and William Henry Harrison as we celebrate a generic “Presidents’ Day.” But George Washington was not simply a President. He was the indispensible man of the American Founding. Washington’s words, thoughts, and deeds …
Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to eat chocolate or dote on freshly delivered red roses. Oh, and to celebrate the 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in February 1818, Douglass was given the improbably dignified name “Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.” Like many people born …
Representative Joe Courtney (D–CT) recently penned an open letter to the man who wrote the movie Lincoln. The film depicts a divided Connecticut state congressional delegation, with three members voting to uphold slavery. Courtney declares that cannot stand. He clarifies that, in 1865, Connecticut’s representatives voted unanimously to abolish slavery. …
Barack Obama has compared himself to many Presidents. First he ran as Abraham Lincoln reincarnated. He even appealed to the spirit of Ronald Reagan. Then he tried to govern like Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). He campaigned for re-election as Harry Truman running against a “do-nothing” Congress. He’s been to Osawatomie, …
Steve Benen on MSNBC’s “The Maddow Blog” dismisses congressional efforts to repeal all or parts of Obamacare and admonishes conservatives to get with the program. Why? He says Obamacare “is here to stay.” What makes Obamacare untouchable? Congress considers countless pieces of legislation “to amend” this legislation or that statute. …
Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln debuts in Washington, D.C., this week. It features a stellar cast: Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Sally Field, and Daniel Day-Lewis as our nation’s 16th President. Day-Lewis is known for method acting. But which Lincoln will he portray? Will he play into the liberal myth of Lincoln …
