The Right’s ‘Busybody State’

At the end of the day, what they really want is control. Far-right groups complain loudly about intrusive government, of course, but don’t believe it. Those same groups are often fine with “big government” — especially when they want to control the private lives of other people. As the contraceptive pill marks its 50-year anniversary, […]

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Court Smacks Down Creationist Institute Suit

An effort by an anti-evolution “institute” to dumb-down science education in Texas hit a brick wall in federal court last week. On June 18 federal district Judge Sam Sparks refused to force Texas to grant authority to the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research Graduate School (ICRGS) to offer master of science degrees in science education. […]

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Texas GOP’s 2010 Platform: How Extreme?

Another exercise in extremism. That’s our take on the new party platform adopted by Texas Republicans at their state convention on June 12 in Dallas. See our analysis of the platform here. The full platform is here. Among the planks: Separation of church and state is a myth. Teach junk science in public schools. Give politicians on […]

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A Catholic Split on Health Care Reform

A new editorial in the Roman Catholic periodical Commonweal highlights a key division among Catholics over the recently passed health care reform bill. In short, this division is over questions of whether the bill provides government support for abortion. […]

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Gov. Perry Gives Parents the Silent Treatment

The usually voluble Gov. Rick Perry has made essentially no public comment about how the far-right wing of the Texas State Board Education engineered a now nationally infamous rewrite of social studies curriculum standards in May. We believe the governor’s silence represents a fundamental failure of accountability to Texas parents. […]

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