Pete Seeger sang the song ‘Which Side Are You On’ in 1941 challenging people to make a choice between supporting working class America and the monied ruling class. We are faced with a similar choice now in 2025. And nothing illustrates that choice more cogently than the April 5 Hands…
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We are America. We have taken our place among the world’s nations seriously. We understood our blessings, our freedoms, our quest for equal rights, even our affluence. We accepted that our blessings might require us to be compassionate, to share the products of our research, our educational advantages, our way…
Congressman John Mannion has been outspoken in his criticism of the Trump administration’s attempts to concentrate power in the executive branch and skirt or defy Constitutional and legal limits. Mannion has earned our respect by doing so. But he has been oddly silent on one important part of the Trump…
Hands Off rally on April 5th in Syracuse. Photo by Mark Rupert. On Saturday, April 5, millions of people attended more than 1,400 protests around the country and around the world. My Bluesky feed was filled with gorgeous pictures of Americans standing up for democracy. Here in Syracuse, it was…
On Friday afternoon, Chuck Schumer and nine other Democratic Senators joined with their Republican colleagues on the key vote to enable passage of a stop-gap funding bill to keep the federal government running through September. In congressional jargon, this bill is referred to as a continuing resolution (CR). Lots of…
I’m just back from attending the 2025 Global Summit on Constitutionalism at the University of Texas at Austin. This is an academic conference that assembles 300 scholars from around the world for three days of research presentations, keynote addresses, and discussion. As always, I learned a lot, some of it…
I’m deeply concerned about ICE’s recent arrest of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil. Mr. Khalil is a green card holder who is in this country legally and has not been charged with any crime. He has been detained purely because he exercised constitutionally protected free speech rights in ways…
Recently General John Kelley, former Homeland Security Secretary and White House Chief of Staff under President Trump, said that Trump could be described as a “fascist.” But what does that mean? Is just an insult hurled at someone you dislike? Or is there a substantial similarity between Trump’s politics and historical…
We looked at the data comparing races that occurred in 2022 and in 2023. When comparing these races turnout was higher in 2022 compare in 2023 in every race. Some races turnout was 263% higher in 2022 than in 2023.
With less than 24 hours notice, there was 18 comments into the public record against spending taxpayer money on a frivolous lawsuit from residents of Onondaga County. And this doesn’t include emails and calls people made directly to their legislator.