Nick Gier

The “Panama Papers,” millions of documents released by a German newspaper, has uncovered major international financial misdealing. The papers were leaked from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm, which has set up dozens of offshore tax havens. The first casualty…

As we celebrate Thomas Jefferson’s 273rd birthday next week, we need to be reminded about what a controversial figure he was.  In the election of 1800 he was called “that atheist and leveler from Virginia.” Alexander Hamilton was so committed…

For almost a century the American Civil Liberties Union has been in the forefront in protecting the people’s constitutional rights. For this column I will focus on the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees full due process to criminal defendants and their…

“If heads on poles were symbols of control, they were also symbols of the ritual violence that was the constant underlying element of Louisiana society.” —Daniel Rasmussen, “American Uprising: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Slave Revolt.” This column is…

“Sanders would be a GOP dream. America will never go socialist.” —Bill O’Reilly The last stop on my month-long trip to Europe last September was London. The London papers headlined Jeremy Corbyn’s surprise election as the Labor Party’s new leader.…

February 6 is former President Ronald Reagan’s 115th birthday, and the myths about him, many times over refuted, continue to intoxicate the minds of many Americans. The GOP presidential candidate who most often compares himself to Reagan is Senator Marco…

As a politically active black man in 1950s and 1960s, Bayard Rustin had, in addition to his race, three strikes against him: he was a pacifist; he was a Communist; and he was openly homosexual. In 1936 Rustin became a…

“All Shias are liable to be killed. We will rid Pakistan of [this] impure people.  Pakistan means land of the pure, and the Shia have no right to live here.” —The Chief of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Pakistan   Since the beginning…

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, speaking about his decision to open his city to Syrian refugees, said that he was more afraid of domestic attacks rather than those inspired by Islamic militants. A mass shooting data base (limited to a minimum…

On November 21, an estimated 700 people participated in a “Rally for Solidarity with Refugees in Idaho” at the Statehouse. A friend who attended said that “the crowd enthusiastically cheered the speakers and a large number of donations seem to…