Michael Josephson: Be what you want to be

  “What will you be when you grow up?”

  It’s a serious question. As kids, we knew we were going to be something and that to be something was to be someone. Even as our ambitions changed, we knew what we were going to be was important and our choice.

Richard Cohen: A tent too large: the Republican Party and anti-LGBT bigotry

  Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus this week said something predictable and something startling in response to the Supreme Court’s refusal to overturn court decisions clearing the way for same-sex marriage.

  The predictable was his continued defense of the Republican Party’s position that marriage should be limited to a man and a woman.

Jacob G. Hornberger: The Virtues of free trade

  I find it absolutely amazing that there are still people around who look with disfavor on free trade. A recent example occurred in the New York Times just last Sunday in an op-ed entitled “Our Misplaced Faith in Free Trade” by Jeff Madrick. According to Madrick, “free trade creates winners and losers — and American workers have been among the losers. Free trade has been a major (but not the only) factor behind the erosion in wages and job security among American workers. It has created amazing prosperity — but mostly for those at the top.”

Sally Steenland: So-called ‘cultural war’ issues are really about justice

  What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, the so-called “culture war” issues—especially abortion and same-sex marriage—were a boon to conservatives in terms of fundraising and energizing their base to go to the polls. Liberals and progressives, on the other hand, saw these issues as toxic and tried to avoid talking about them if at all possible.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Life after the White House

  This week our 39th President, Jimmy Carter, turns 90 years old. In my lifetime, he is the most ethical, moral and Christ-like president to occupy the Oval Office.

  Most, if not all of our presidents, have claimed to be Christians. However, Jimmy Carter truly walked the walk. There is no spectre of hypocrisy surrounding his life. Everything he did while in the White House was above reproach and his life after his presidential tenure has been an example of living your life humbly and being a true Christian servant.

Robert G. Wilkerson: Seven reasons prayer should not be in schools

-It would violate the Constitution. That document clearly calls for the separation of church and state. Those who wrote it knew history. They knew how horrible and oppressive life could be when the two were not separated. All attempts to circumvent this provision have been struck down by the courts and will continue to be.

-It would not be fair or just. Most of those advocating prayer in schools are advocating Christian prayer. If Christian prayer were to be allowed, then prayers of other religions (Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, etc.) would have to be allowed as well. They are citizens and pay taxes that build, operate, and maintain schools; therefore, they have equal rights.

Michael Josephson: “You’re only cheating yourself”

  It’s in the news all the time – kids are cheating in school in new ways and at unprecedented rates.

  One of the reasons is the way schools and parents deal with or ignore the underlying issues of integrity and character. For instance, to discourage kids from cheating, adults commonly say, “You’re only cheating yourself.”

Sam Fulwood III: Numbers put the lie to our national narrative

  While notions of impermeable social and economic stratification flaunt America’s egalitarian self-identity, our nation’s populace is becoming increasingly locked into rigid classes that frame life options from cradle to grave. As much as we are loath to admit it, the best predicate for a child’s eventual success is something that child has no ability to control: their parents.

  Such an unsettling conclusion follows from a series of recent studies that suggest that a child born into a family with parents who have the ability to comfortably house, educate and provide for them have an advantage they rarely lose for the rest of their lives.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1425: Fighting for voting rights

  We were fighting for voting rights as we sat around the conference table. On one end sat the Alabama Secretary of State, Jim Bennett, and three others from his office. On the other end sat the six of us: Deuel Ross of the Legal Defense Fund; Jeffrey Jones of Mobile; Rev. Hugh Morris and Albert Bell of Talladega; Brandon Fountain of Greater Birmingham Ministries; and me, Hank Sanders. Most of us were members of SOS (Save OurSelves Movement for Justice and Democracy). We were fighting for voting rights, the very heart of democracy, but we were just nibbling around the edges.

Laurence M. Vance: Dogs and diners

  Americans are dog lovers. In fact, many people love their dogs so much that they take them wherever they can. Some people would even take their dogs out to eat with them if they could.

  If they live in California — now they can.