Bits & Pieces
Articles with unfiltered opinions
GOP Clown Parade
Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart have given up their shows, but lovers of comedy need not despair—the Republican Presidential circus is in full swing. Every four years the clown parade swells—now it’s become a virtual Mister America pageant of slick talking heads all parroting the most banal clichés and bromides. Any halfwit capable of...
Prosecute Our War Criminals
Most Americans believe that the United States is still the brightest beacon of human rights in the world. But that reputation has been severely undermined by the Bush Administration’s deliberate torture of detainees (officially revealed by the Senate Intelligence Report) and the Obama Administration’s refusal to prosecute the offenders. This past June, the ACLU,...
Just Say No To Death Row
Twenty years ago, 42 nations practiced the death penalty. Today that number has dwindled to 22. China remains the world’s leader, but the exact number of executions there is a state secret. Following China are those bastions of enlightenment—Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and, in fifth place, the United States. That’s shameful company. Although the...
Fire Sale: American Democracy
Wealthy elites have always exercised a disproportionate influence in the political realm, but in 21st century America they now completely rule the roost. Our democracy has degenerated into a full-fledged oligarchy—and that’s not just leftist boilerplate, but the verdict of a new study by two scholars at Princeton University. Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page...
The War Racket
The Neocon radicals who hijacked our nation almost 15 years ago are still driving our bloodthirsty foreign policy, fueling conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. Surrounded by hawks of both parties in Washington, President Obama wants another AUMF (Authority to Use Military Force) from Congress to expand military operations in the Middle East....
America, Reclaim Our Dream!
The Founding Fathers did not intend our nation to become a class society ruled by an aristocracy, as in England. But that’s where we’ve drifted over the last few decades, with the greatest wealth inequality since the Great Depression continuing to expand, the cost of a college education skyrocketing beyond the means of many...
Thoughts Are Free
The sickening news that Islamic militants had executed the top staff of French satire publication Charlie Hebdo hit very close to home for me. I’ve been shot, sued and repeatedly threatened by people who didn’t like things I published. The cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo worked in the same nothing-is-sacred spirit as we do at...
Evolve Already!
Our contemporary existence—with its advanced medicine, high-tech communication and more convenience than mankind has ever known—is all thanks to science and engineering, not religion. It makes me laugh when fundamentalists and creationists use the Internet to disseminate their propaganda or seek advanced therapies for their illnesses, while being utterly in denial about the science...
Signs of Common Sense
Even though the last midterm elections were a disaster for America, several approved ballot measures suggest that common sense is still alive and kicking. I’m convinced the current swing to the right is mostly a problem of low turnout and too much corporate cash. It doesn’t reflect the real mood of the country. Take,...
A Year Without Religion
Get ready for the year ahead. Judging by the last one, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. One of the biggest reasons for it, in my view, is religious fanaticism, an illness that blows everything out of proportion and halts progress in its tracks. The distortion of Fundamentalist beliefs—regardless of which religion—is one...
The War On Women Rages On
I know a lot of people think this idea of conservatives waging a war on women is just a load of campaign talk. It isn’t. And it isn’t new either. Women’s rights are under serious, sustained attack, not only by the media assholes that populate Fox News and other right-wing outlets, but also by...
The Root Causes
The lessons are coming hard and fast. Despite six years of Democratic leadership in the White House under an African-American president, America’s lingering social ills remain in a critical state and are still being expressed in racial terms. With the media oversimplifying events such as the unrest in Ferguson, most people will opt for...
Four Decades of Free Speech
With this issue, HUSTLER proudly celebrates 41 years as one of America’s staunchest advocates of personal freedom, political integrity and unfettered free speech. Back in the ’70s, when we started publishing, interracial relationships were taboo, gays were strictly closeted and women were just beginning to spy the glass ceiling. Undoubtedly, there has been a...
The Femme Factor
Is the Republican War on Women just liberal PR, as Fox News wants you to believe? Well, in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing employers to deny women contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the right-wing assault on women’s rights looks all too real. We’ve seen again and again that our...
Where Are the Jobs?
Election year is a favorite time to lament slow job growth. The vast majority of voters are at the mercy of the job market and rightfully expect their elected officials to foster a thriving economy in which they can find and maintain gainful employment. In fact, new poll data says that today’s bleak employment...
