David Atkins

At least they’re honest: At one point tonight, Michael Brown protesters chanted “hands up, don’t shoot!” Darren Wilson supporters responded: “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!” — Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 24, 2014 There is a hyper-aggressive segment of reactionary authoritarians driven by race resentment in America, and it’s a bigger group than most people realize or want […]

Those regulations that conservatives are always accusing of hurting America? They’re removing 3 million tons of toxins every year: Actions taken by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act have caused U.S. toxic air emissions to drop “significantly” — in some cases by more than half — since the law was amended in […]

In response to the Hobby Lobby case, the White House has implemented a fix to allow institutions and corporations who object even to a funding bypass on contraception coverage for employees. The fix is an overly complex workaround necessitated by the Supreme Court’s bizarre ruling that corporations have 1st Amendment religious rights, and can enforce […]

The mini-brouhaha over the President’s vacation and golf schedule among conservative media over the last few days has been remarkable for its pettiness even by Washington standards. After the awful murder of journalist James Foley in Syria, The New York Post and other conservative standardbearers started attacking President Obama for continuing to take a vacation […]

Disgraced conservative media paragon Dinesh D’Souza stepped in it this week by comparing Ferguson protesters to ISIS, under the bizarre theory that each group is “overreacting” to a perceived grievance. Let’s leave aside the fact that D’Souza feels that Ferguson protesters are reacting to a “perceived” injustice rather than very real discrimination, or that D’Souza […]

This would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic: House Republicans want to use their final week in Washington before the August recess to send a signal that they are ready to govern. As the country’s attention turns to the fight for control of the House and Senate, Republicans want to show they are capable […]

Someone will have to explain why a sane society would still allow this to be legal, because I can’t figure it out: mong the windmills and creosote bushes of San Gorgonio Pass, a nondescript beige building stands flanked by water tanks. A sign at the entrance displays the logo of Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water, […]

Most people still feel that, despite recent small upticks in good economic news, things still aren’t going very well. It’s obvious why: Economic inequality in the United States has been receiving a lot of attention. But it’s not merely an issue of the rich getting richer. The typical American household has been getting poorer, too. […]

Good things do occasionally come out of Congress, even this one: Consumers will soon be able to free their cell phones from the grip of wireless carriers thanks to legislation that Congress passed Friday allowing mobile devices to be unlocked. President Barack Obama said he looked forward to signing the bipartisan measure that cleared the […]

It’s a common complaint among American expatriates: no matter how far away you go, you can’t escape Uncle Sam’s taxes. But that’s not the case with American corporations that move their putative “headquarters” overseas, as President Obama noted the other day: In his toughest comments yet on the subject, he accused big US corporations of […]