Author Archives: Bennett Minton

A political phenomenon crashes the season of hope

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Bennett Minton

Donald Trump is just the hired help. A canary in a coalmine, the reality-show star is a measure of our civic health. Trump has held up a mirror, and his polling finds a slice of the electorate angry about our … Continue reading →

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The Pope and the Speaker

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Bennett Minton

A parent had arrived to remind the children of their purpose. Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility. Your own responsibility as members of Congress is to enable this country, by … Continue reading →

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Gerrymandering in Virginia: The legislature gets personal

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Bennett Minton

What happened in the Virginia General Assembly this week is a result of gerrymandering – the political process by which the political parties take care of themselves and ignore their constituents. The events – a state Supreme Court justice and … Continue reading →

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The Senate as kabuki theatre

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Bennett Minton

The Senate’s vote this week on a bill to defund Planned Parenthood illustrates several forces that have converted the “world’s greatest deliberative body” into a mechanism of non-stop campaigning. The impetus for the vote came from group that claims to … Continue reading →

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‘That cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion’

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Bennett Minton

On this Memorial Day, I’m pondering the connection between our struggle for freedom and equality and the sacrifices of service men and women. Memorial Day was invented on May 30, 1868, as “Decoration Day.” Now it climaxes a three-day weekend … Continue reading →

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Bert Neuborne and ‘Madison’s Music’

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Bennett Minton

Have you considered why the First Amendment is structured the way it is, or how the 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights came to be so ordered? Me neither, until I read Bert Neuborne’s new book, Madison’s Music: On … Continue reading →

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“Civil Death”: Florida’s Criminal Disenfranchisement

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Bennett Minton

The Honorable Rick Scott Tallahassee, Florida Dear Governor Scott: Belated congratulations on your reelection in November. I don’t write to every governor, but as a non-resident, property-tax-payer who spends about half the year in the Sunshine State (summers too – … Continue reading →

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A wake – or awake? – in Baltimore

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Bennett Minton

After riots broke out in cities across the country in the summer of 1967, President Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. Known as the Kerner Commission after its chairman, Illinois Governor Otto Kerner, it issued a 426-page … Continue reading →

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‘Disappeared’ from the African-American community

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Bennett Minton

For every 100 white women age 25 to 54 not in jail, there are 99 white men. For every 100 black women 25-54 out of jail, the equivalent number of black men is 83. That means that for this age … Continue reading →

Posted in civil rights, Prison industry | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Celebrating “Tax Day” – and perverting it

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Bennett Minton

IT IS A NATIONAL DAY OF ACCOUNTS: Tax Day. In bygone years, lots of us had our returns stamped at the post office after dark, taking to the last hour to reaffirm our citizenship. Long before Turbotax, I participated in … Continue reading →

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