Commentary
Biden’s Philly speech was a challenge to all of us. We have to step up
Returning to the state where he launched his candidacy — and the one that handed him the White House in 2020 — President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Americans to join him in a fight to preserve democracy and to beat back the forces of extremism. The 30-minute address was equal parts tribute to […]
For Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the border is everywhere
Sarah Huckabee Sanders is almost certainly going to be the next governor of Arkansas. Yet her bid for office has been marked almost entirely by appeals to issues of primarily national concern. Arkansas is often difficult to locate among her talking points. Immigration and national identity, on the other hand, turn up in nearly every […]
The dwindling local news environment makes us all less informed
(This commentary has been updated to reflect new information. See editor’s note at end.) People have a right to know what their government is doing in their name. As the editor of a small weekly newspaper in Louisiana in the late 1970s, I helped uncover insider dealing by a city commissioner and regularly covered a […]
Home ownership and the “American Dream” are crushed by Real Estate Investment Trusts
A big economic division between renters and homeowners is apparent when looking at net worth: For homeowners, the median net worth of $231,400 is about 44 times the median net worth of renters, which is $5,200. Dr. Ken Chilton of Tennessee State University has studied the impact of Real Estate Investment Trusts on the housing […]
Merger of Sanderson Farms and Cargill is a bad deal for farmers and consumers
Why conspire with your competitors when you can just merge? Over the last two years, giant corporate meat companies have been settling lawsuits to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars that allege they conspired with each other to fix prices, lower workers’ and farmers’ pay and raise the price of meat for both […]
Pandering to potential treason
One week ago, the FBI carried out what we have since learned was a quiet, well-planned and professionally-executed search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home. The public likely would not even have known about the search had not Trump, an inveterate blabbermouth who finds it impossible to not call attention to himself, did what […]
New Mexico reporter undaunted after being denied entry to campaign event
Source NM’s senior reporter pulled a piece of posterboard out of the trash outside a campaign event Sunday and hastily sharpied a sign that read: Hello! My name is Shaun. I AM A JOURNALIST Why are you here? What can the news do better? Shaun Griswold’s inspired outreach is exactly what I meant when I […]
Welcome to the Arkansas Advocate, a fresh voice in state news
Thirty-eight years ago, my bride and I drove up from Baton Rouge and into Arkansas in her Datsun B210 hatchback. Looking for adventure, we planned to camp and hike during our honeymoon. We pitched our tent on Mount Nebo on July 4. Over the next few days, we toodled along scenic routes through the Bostons […]
To prevent shootings, teachers need to be armed with information, not guns
By Matthew T. Mangino Schools do not need more resource officers, armed guards or for that matter armed teachers. Schools need to become adept at gathering information, sharing intelligence and, most importantly, making sense of what they learn. In Uvalde, Texas, we’ve learned far too well that good guys — many good guys — with […]
Why same-sex marriage has become a less polarizing issue for Congress
While public opinion and different state laws on abortion rights are sharply dividing the country, there’s growing indication that most people agree on another once-controversial topic – protecting same-sex marriage. The U.S. House of Representatives voted on July 19, 2022, to enshrine same-sex marriage into law with a bipartisan vote – all 220 Democratic representatives […]