Joseph’s Columns Archive

Appearing on CNN with Anderson Cooper, film director Spike Lee implored President Obama to infuse his handling of the Gulf oil spill with more emotion. Demonstrating the astute analysis we have come to expect from the director, Lee implored...

I am an assistant coach on my middle son’s youth football team. Football practice begins in August and I have spent the last two weeks reading up on defensive alignments, surfing coaching websites, and sending e-mail to some of...

If the Obama White House believes the controversy surrounding the administrations engagement with Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) will “go gently into that goodnight,” they are sorely mistaken. The more we Americans learn of the affair, the more questions we...

Two weeks ago Dr. Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist and the Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Kentucky, appeared on the Rachel Maddow show to clarify statements he had made, which seemed to suggest that he would have opposed the Civil...

In politics, the crisis game works like this: pet issues are turned into national concerns, which then become the object of study for social scientists. The media then substantiate the concerns by publishing the opinions of social scientists, and...

Last week, Americans of all nationalities celebrated Cinco de Mayo; some, like me, acknowledged the day by partaking of margaritas and carne asada. Others, like the Mexican students at Live Oak high school in Northern California, observe the day...

Some voters in Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District will believe Princella Smith is just too young to be a congresswoman. Doing business on Capital Hill requires wisdom and life experience; at 26-years-old, Smith is a baby. Of course, age was...

The people of Mississippi have not been angels. The history of the Magnolia State and segregation invites the kind of scrutiny and criticism that has recently been visited upon the state. Media reports that the Walthall County School District...

I received my census form, dutifully filled it out and mailed it off. In the blank reserved for racial classification I wrote in capital letters, “HUMAN.” It was widely reported that for racial classification President Obama checked the box...

“Distinctions by race are so evil, so arbitrary and invidious that a state, bound to defend the equal protection of the laws must not invoke them in any public sphere.” Thurgood Marshall Perhaps it was unfair to expect that...

There was much laughter following the presidents signing of the health care bill. Democrats were positively giddy over having successfully secured America’s decline. There were fist bumps and back slapping; the champagne flowed. Democrats were not alone in their...

I’m not crazy about congressional Democrats right now. As I write this, Congressional Democrats are engaged in a furious partisan battle to pass their idea of healthcare reform. Alas it is an idea the majority of Americans do not...