We appear now to be in a period of perpetually slender majorities.The American Congress is more or less split and will still be after this November's mid-terms, regardless of the technical outcome. Maybe it's not about victory... or policy... Maybe we need the "great innovation" that works regardless of division.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, and many polls, Barack Obama is exactly the right kind of pragmatic leader we need to have as President in these scary times. His steadfastness steered the country through the worst recession since the 1930s.

I wonder what Jefferson would think of our Congress today, or of the voters who tolerate it. I wonder what it would feel like to be proud of our government again.

This story was originally posted at Jacobin magazine. Two hundred years ago, Alexander Hamilton was mortally wounded by then Vice President Aaron B...

One's religion should never interfere legally with the personal habits of another person; even if those behaviors pertain to eating horribly, smoking, hiking in dangerous terrain, and especially sexual activity.

Americans should be protected from interference with their faith as well as attempts by others to impose their beliefs. The institutions of government and church should be kept far apart, while the political realm is left open to arguments of all sorts, whether based on theism, humanism, or something else.

Our politicians and our policies have ill-served most of the working families in this country for way too long now, and it is time to turn that around. The battle over whether the working class will be included in the American idea invented by Jefferson and those others in Philadelphia 238 years ago this week still rages on.

Two centuries ago, a group of patriots came together and founded our great nation. Looking back, we see the powdered wigs and think of these Founding Fathers as experienced, middle-aged statesman. But in fact, young people were instrumental in leading the charge.

No, Hobby Lobby, that quote on your website is NOT from Thomas Jefferson! And, furthermore, the document it comes from -- which was written by James Madison -- is a list of some of the best arguments AGAINST that Supreme Court ruling that you and your fellow Christian supremacists are currently gloating about.

While many conservatives have labeled Obama's unilateral decisions as imperial, or the actions of a "monarch," the truth is that U.S. history is filled with Republican presidents who have been far more willing to take matters into their own hands.

The Fourth of July marks the 238th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Monday was the final day of the U.S. Supreme Court's most recent term. The two have more in common than the justices on America's highest court seem to understand.