Category Archives: Equality

Some friends of mine are helping to put together the #Rally4Equality next week in Washington, D.C.

They asked me if I’d ever written anything about equality. I’ve written about economic equality, I said.

To be quite honest, the idea scared the crap out of me.

Why? I typically write about economics and framing. What could I say about women’s rights that hasn’t been said by several generations of women activists and suffragist leaders?

Of course I was also intrigued. What could I say?

So I told them I’d think about it.

One question that kept coming up: How would I explain women’s rights and equality to my conservative friends? Could I even talk about this issue with conservatives? Could I convince conservatives that equality was an issue worth fighting for?

Below are my early attempts and what I learned.

As part of a recent discussion on the Green Party forum about the Alaska Project, Justin Jeffre responded with a particularly well-framed argument in favor of supportive housing.

I thought this might be helpful if anyone is calling or writing city council (or anyone else for that matter) in support of the project. It seems particularly relevant in light of resident testimony yesterday claiming that the project would be a “haven” for drug dealers.

Matteo Brunetta is an Italian-born documentary film maker who lives in New York City.

His film The Highest Cost looks at the fight of two 9/11 first responders against cancer developed from months of working at Ground Zero.

The Highest Cost TRAILER from Matteo Brunetta on Vimeo.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of speaking with him.

By now, you’ve heard the Gingrich line about Obama being the “food stamp” President.

Tuesday in Cincinnati, he repeated the claim:

That’s why I’ve said over and over again that this is the best food stamp President in American history.

Here’s how Democrats responded and here’s how they should have responded.

Dear Congressman Chabot, I am curious as to why Republicans don’t seem willing to compromise on our budget. Democrats seem willing to make many of the tax cuts you want. Why not get rid of some of the tax loopholes that they are asking for? I don’t understand your position […]

I received this alarmist e-mail from NewsMax today: Radio Insiders, Congressmen Aim to Stop Fairness Doctrine Moves are afoot to head off any Democratic efforts to reinstate the so-called Fairness Doctrine and stifle conservative talk radio. A group of radio  insiders has formed the Free Radio Coalition to fight the […]

T-shirt seen at the U.S. vs. Mexico soccer game in Columbus. Mexico actually lost the soccer game, but I’m scoring the public relations battle 1-0 in their favor.

Chip Saltsman, former Tennessee GOP leader, in a bid to become chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent a CD of parodies to committee members that included the song “Barack the Magic Negro.” Many have labeled the effort as racist and the current chairman of the RNC has stated that he is appalled. […]

I happened across an interview with Victoria Wulsin in CityBeat this week and was struck by her concise framing of the health care issue. “What we all want is quality,” Wulsin said. Wulsin believes what has gotten lost in the health care debate is the patient. The current administration has […]

The “free market” is one of the most powerful frames conservatives use to advance their agenda. How many times have you heard the phrase “leave it to the market” or “let the market do its work”? This argument has been applied to everything from the breakup of AT&T to social security to just about every argument conservatives have about fighting “big government”.

The reason this argument is so effective is that most people can clearly see how the “free market” has brought many good things into their lives. The idea of a “win, win” situation is understood from daily transactions. When markets function properly, people often benefit.

The issue is that certain conditions are necessary to maintain this functioning “free market”. The Rockridge Institute has one of the best summations I’ve seen of the underlying assumptions of a “free market”.