The GOP candidates for the White House held a CNBC-hosted debate presentation in Dearborn MI this afternoon, and you’ve never heard so many Republican politicians talking nice about labor unions. Several of them gave credit to the unions for building this country; Ron Paul spoke firmly and forthrightly in favor of the right to organize; Rudy Giuliani blazoned his grandmother’s membership in the Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU), Sam Brownback ditto for his mother’s having been a postal worker; they seemed even to be influenced by John Edwards’ speeches about unions having built the middle class in this country....   more »

The only bright spot in the Iraq war, within Iraq, is that it's so bad that any modest step in the direction of human rights or even common sense would be an improvement. If the U.S. forces or "diplomatic" corps in Baghdad want to help that city, they might try visiting the jails and releasing Sunni women and other Iraqi women to their families.

In yet another ghastly sign of the horror that invading Iraq has unleashed on the helpless Iraqis, many women are among the prisoners held without charges in Iraqi prisons. At a time when the decimated Iraqi ...   more »