Tax the Rich Fairly - 5.24.2026

“The Simple Answer to Taxing the Rich Is the Best Answer” is correct. America cannot build a stable, equitable society while wealth and political power are concentrated in the hands of a tiny ultra-rich elite and giant corporations.

Higher taxes on extreme wealth and corporate profits helped build America’s strongest middle class after World War II. Today, billionaires and multinational corporations often pay lower effective tax rates than working people while hiding wealth offshore and exploiting loopholes created through political influence and massive campaign donations.

Reasonable taxation of the ultra-rich would still leave them enormously wealthy while generating revenue for healthcare, education, housing, infrastructure, clean energy, and decent jobs. It would also encourage more investment, industry, and working capital to remain in America instead of flowing into overseas tax havens.

Citizens United opened the floodgates for legalized political bribery, allowing wealthy donors, corporations, and powerful lobbying groups, including foreign-funded PACs, to exert enormous influence over legislation and tax policy. This deep corruption weakens democracy and violates the moral teachings shared across religious traditions — that greed and exploitation of society are wrong.

A democracy cannot survive when billionaires buy political power while ordinary citizens struggle merely to survive.

Mamdani’s moral clarity - 5.24.2026

Zohran Mamdani has the moral high ground in the face of critics who continue defending a pariah Israel whose actions in Gaza — mass killing, starvation and collective punishment — have shocked the conscience of the world.

Mamdani’s position is far closer to the ethical teachings of Jewish scripture than the politics of endless war and dehumanization. The Torah commands, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), while Exodus 23:9 warns, “Do not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.” The prophet Micah teaches: “Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly.”

These values stand for compassion, human dignity and protection of innocent life — not siege, bombardment and starvation. Criticizing Israel’s brutality is not antisemitism; defending injustice because the perpetrators are allies is moral hypocrisy.

History will remember those who spoke against mass suffering, not those who rationalized it.

Loyalty cracking inside MAGA - 5.24.2026

The reported huge settlement over the IRS employee leaking Donald Trump’s tax returns, with money potentially flowing to Trump, his family, and even some involved in the attack on the Capitol, exposes how far political loyalty has overtaken accountability.

What makes this even more striking is that anger is now spreading inside Trump’s own MAGA base. Many supporters are furious that some of the worst offenders who attacked the Capitol and assaulted police officers could effectively be rewarded with cash after already receiving pardons. Even loyal Republicans are increasingly uneasy over Trump’s sweeping pardons and apparent belief that power places him and his allies above the law.

As Glenn Thrush reports, key figures around Trump continue choosing loyalty over pushing back, while Jeffrey Toobin warns that Trump has effectively pardoned himself and his family forever through political intimidation and political control.

Republicans seeking reelection should pay close attention. In a rarity, some Republicans are finally standing up to Trump. More must follow. If party leaders continue enabling corruption, abuse of power and attacks on democratic institutions, voters — including disillusioned conservatives — may punish them heavily in the midterm elections.

Reverse Robin Hood: How America Robs the Many to Enrich the Few - 5.24.2026

America increasingly feels like a country where the poor are lectured about sacrifice while the wealthy demand endless rewards. Working families struggle to pay rent, healthcare and groceries, yet giant corporations, billionaires and elite institutions constantly line up for tax breaks, subsidies and government protection.

I find it deeply offensive that ordinary citizens are told there is “no money” for affordable housing, education or healthcare, while trillions can suddenly appear for corporate bailouts, Wall Street rescues and special favors for the politically connected. This is not free-market capitalism. It is reverse Robin Hood economics — taking from working people and transferring wealth upward.

Such policies are corroding democracy itself. When money buys influence, the voices of average Americans matter less while the ultra-rich shape laws and public policy to protect their fortunes. A nation cannot remain stable when greed is rewarded and poverty is treated like a moral failure.

America does not suffer from scarcity. It suffers from grotesque inequality and a political system captured by wealth and power.

Shadows Over Justice: The Supreme Court’s Unchecked Power - 5.24.2026

John Oliver’s exposé on the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” revealed how unelected judges are increasingly making monumental decisions behind closed doors, without full arguments or public scrutiny. Americans are told this process is for emergencies, yet it has repeatedly delivered enormous political victories for President Trump and the far-right agenda.

Even more disturbing is America’s outdated system of lifetime appointments for Supreme Court justices. No other powerful public officials remain in office regardless of advanced age, declining judgment or severe mental deterioration. A democracy cannot function properly when a handful of unaccountable judges wield immense power for life.

The Supreme Court was meant to protect public trust, not operate like an untouchable political fortress beyond scrutiny and reform. 

Hatred of Israel and the Degradation of the West -

Bret Stephens, a former editor of The Jerusalem Post, again rushes to defend Israel while ignoring the catastrophic suffering inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Any honest discussion of morality must also confront mass civilian deaths, widespread destruction, starvation, illegal settlement expansion, and repeated attacks by violent settler extremists while Israeli forces often stand by.

Human rights groups and international observers have also documented abusive treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including allegations of torture and sexual abuse that demand full independent investigation and accountability.

History did not begin on October 7. The creation of Israel in 1948 was accompanied by the violent displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the Nakba, carried out in part by Zionist paramilitary groups such as Irgun, Lehi (the Stern Gang), and Haganah.

Stephens also ignores that Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in relative coexistence in Palestine before partition and the violent creation of the Israeli state. It is therefore no surprise that Israel’s actions in Gaza have led growing numbers around the world to view the country as morally isolated and condemned for what many legal scholars, human rights advocates and governments describe as genocidal crimes.

True moral consistency means valuing Palestinian lives as equal to all others, condemning atrocities regardless of who commits them, and rejecting the dehumanization that fuels endless violence. 

Voices of Conscience at Graduation - 5.21.2026

Attempts to censor pro-Palestine voices at graduations are a disgrace to free speech, academic freedom and basic human conscience. Students and faculty speaking out against Israel’s grotesque destruction in Gaza are not spreading hate — they are demanding humanity, accountability and an end to mass suffering financed in part by our tax dollars.

Graduation ceremonies should celebrate courage, moral conviction and the willingness to speak truth to power, not punish those who refuse to stay silent in the face of horrific crimes. Silencing dissent will not erase the images of dead children, starving families and shattered communities seen around the world every day.

History rarely honors those who stayed quiet during injustice.