Your Land is Their Land

[This piece was originally published in the Charleston Gazette in May of 2017] After the disastrous ending to WVU’s terrific men’s basketball season, I turned off the TV in disgust. The tape will show that Adrian was fouled. A tournament that had been marred by poor officiating had

Trump Helping the Rich at West Virginia's Expense

[This piece was originally published in the Wheeling Intelligencer in March, 2017.] I don’t know whether to say it is utterly shocking, or completely believable, but the Trumpcare bill in Congress (ACHA) turned out to be a rescue package for Wall Street fat cats, paid for by West Virginians.

Pull Them Pistols or Whistle Dixie

[This piece was originally published in the Fayette Tribune in March 2017]. In Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece, The Outlaw Josey Wales, the wanted rebel, Josey, encounters four union soldiers outside a general store. A snake-oil salesman recognizes Josey and shouts his name. The soldiers know they have to try to

Where did all West Virginia's Money Go?

[This piece was originally published in the State Journal in February, 2017] The West Virginia Capitol is a crime scene. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen. So where are the cops? Have they got any leads? When will the perpetrators be brought to justice? It’s not some

Cutting out the Middlemen: the Billionaire Government

[This post was first published in the WV State Journal in January, 2017] There so much going on in our government right now, it’s hard to keep up. We expect a dramatic shift from the Obama Administration to the Trump Administration next year. In fact, the desire of key

Anatomy of a Collapse: West Virginia 2016

[This piece was originally published in the Register-Herald in November, 2016.] A political party that stops listening to its voters is like a person who has stopped breathing. For a short time, nothing seems to change. But it gets uncomfortable quickly, then unbearable. That is how the West Virginia Democrats

A Letter for the New President

In 1993, before Bill Clinton stepped into the oval office, President George H.W. Bush wrote him a letter. Short, gracious and encouraging, the letter conveyed the departing President’s honest good wishes for the success of the man who had defeated him in a tough election. His letter conveys

The Sunday Night Massacre

[This piece was originally published on the Bordas & Bordas law blog in October, 2016.] In 1973, a special prosecutor by the name of Archibald Cox subpoenaed President Nixon’s now-infamous Oval Office audio tapes. Unable to broker a deal, Nixon summoned the attorney general of the United States, Elliot

American CEOs Take Child Hostages, Then Complain

This piece was first published on the Bordas & Bordas legal blog in August, 2016] In 2007, EpiPens cost about fifty bucks apiece. Then drug company giant Mylan bought the rights. Now they go for more than six hundred dollars a pair. They do not cost more because they work

The Right-Wing Coal Con

[This piece was originally published on the first Home Yesterday, in April, 2016] Mitch McConnell finally gave away the game. After years of pretending to be a friend of coal miners, he got caught red-handed and made national news. The right-wing coal con has begun to unravel. Tens of thousands

A Tale of Two Campaigns

There’s a new show on TV this year. Yesterday, Ted Cruz called Donald Trump a “sniveling coward.” Trump calls Cruz “lyin’ Ted.” Cruz said law enforcement should “patrol and secure” Muslim neighborhoods. Trump called Mexicans “rapists.” Trump said US soldiers should kill the families of our enemies. Cruz wanted

You Can't Make a Monkey Out of Me

We all did it when we were little. No place to hide? Just cover your eyes and pretend they can’t see you if you can’t see them. Don’t like what you’re hearing? Put your fingers in your ears and yell, “LA-LA-LA-LA-LA.” But children outgrow that kind

Two for the Show in West Virginia

West Virginia has had it up to here with both political parties. On the Democratic side, the President has historically-low approval ratings. On the Republican side, West Virginia has rejected a train of establishment candidates in favor of Donald Trump. Research suggests that West Virginians are more pessimistic about the

Which Way, West Virginia?

[This piece was first published in the Charleston Gazette in February, 2016] The world and our country are changing. Some of those changes may be welcome, and some of them not so much, but many of them are beyond our power, here in West Virginia, to control. The choices we

Bernie Sanders for President

[This endorsement was originally published in Home Yesterday in January 2016, and in my capacity as a Democratic Superdelegate in 2016.] Our country faces a middle-class crisis. Well-funded corporations and politicians have used billions of dollars to corrupt our politics and drive down the wages working families need to survive.

There Came Into Egypt a Pharaoh Who Did Not Know

[This piece was published in the Spirit of Jefferson in January, 2016.] West Virginia faces real peril this winter. Ever greater external challenges to our economy and our working families have arisen. Internally, a dangerous group of Republican politicians have taken control of our legislature, severely handicapping our ability to

Patriot Cole Plunders West Virginia

[This piece was first published on the original Home Yesterday in December, 2015.] UPDATE: On January 27th, with Bill Cole’s apparent approval, billionaire Bob Murray came to Charleston to suggest he pay no tax at all, or get more than a 50% cut, while West Virginia faces a budget

Day of Reckoning, Blankenship on Trial

[This piece was originally published in the Spirit of Jefferson in November, 2015] Whatever happens at his trial, the hard truth is we are living in Don Blankenship’s West Virginia. The billionaire coal baron may have landed himself in the dock, but along the way, he landed an avalanche

Dick Cheney Not Needed in Wheeling

[This piece was originally published in the Wheeling Intelligencer in September, 2015.] Our local Chambers of Commerce can be great civic institutions. My company participates in the Wheeling Chamber actively, and we recently had a nice event bringing small business owners from the area to our front lawn for a

Paying Every Price, and Bearing Every Burden, in WV Coalfield Communities

[This piece was originally published in the Charleston Gazette in August, 2015.] John Kennedy, in his inaugural address, said that America would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, or oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” He need not

How the GOP Created the Trump Monster

[This piece was originally published on the original Home Yesterday in July, 2015.] UPDATE: Almost a full additional month of Trump’s unadulterated foolishness has failed to weaken, even slightly, his grip on Republican primary voters. With a commanding lead — more than double his closest competitor’s support — the Trump

Platform: Longer Hours/Lower Wages

The journalist Michael Kinsley put his name on a certain kind of political mistake, or “gaffe,” as they are sometimes called. A “Kinsley Gaffe” occurs when a political figure accidentally tells the truth. Jeb Bush made such a mistake recently when he said if working families weren’t happy with

Prayers are Answered, the Constitution Prevails, and West Virginia Grows Stronger

[This piece was originally published in the Wheeling Intelligencer in June, 2015.] In St. Francis’ prayer we ask God to grant, “that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.” St. Francis’ prayer would

The Real Right to Work is a Job

[This piece was originally published in the Charleston Gazette on June 2nd, 2015.] West Virginia continues to suffer from high unemployment. Many simply cannot find work that stands a reasonable chance of paying the bills. When an able-bodied person cannot work to earn their daily bread, their pride and dignity

Cut Taxes for Working West Virginians

This piece was originally published in the Wheeling Intelligencer in June, 2015.] Republican politicians in Charleston have been pretending to “study” the West Virginia tax code at a few recent meetings. I put “study” in quotation marks like that because state Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer, already telegraphed exactly what