Ringside

Today’s Ringside Seat: The Zimmerman trial is now in the jury’s hands, and the commentary surrounding it all says nothing good about our country’s growth in discussing race.

Today’s Ringside Seat: Well … I guess Nixon was right.

Today’s Ringside Seat: There is almost certainly more misery ahead for the people of Afghanistan. And probably little we can do to stop it, whether we stay or go.

Today’s Ringside Seat: An important detail to remember as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the bloodiest Civil War battle.

Today’s Ringside Seat: A year after the Arab Spring, Egypt isn’t looking too hot.

The opening lines of Antonin Scalia’s dissent in United States v. Windsor-where a 5–4 majority of the Supreme Court overturned the 1997 Defense of Marriage Act on equal protection grounds-are straightforward: “We have no power to decide this case. And even if we did, we have no power under the Constitution to invalidate this democratically […]

Congratulations, America! Racial discrimination in voting is now a thing of the past. Or so the five conservative justices on the Supreme Court decided in their ruling issued today, overturning the preclearance formula of the Voting Rights Act, under which states with long histories of discrimination at the voting booth had to get permission from […]

When Republicans won sweeping victories in the 2010 elections, they decided to take advantage of the moment. They might be losing the culture war, but with control of many state legislatures, they could mount a frontal assault on women’s reproductive rights. And so they did; in 2011, there were no less than 92 laws passed […]

There was a time not long ago when liberals looked at their conservative counterparts with envy. The right was so disciplined, so unified, so well-coordinated, so good at devising and sticking to its talking points, while getting three liberals to agree on anything, much less act in concert, seemed all but impossible. It’s amazing, though, […]