“I’ll take a Mega-Million, a Powerball, and a Super-Lotto.” “You feeling lucky?” The 7-Eleven clerk sizes me up as he adjusts the impulse buys displayed along the front counter.   “Nope, just tryin’ to do my part keeping the American people downtrodden and broke.” “Huh? You some kinda socialist?” This is a new thing, buying lottery...

“I’m a liar. I’ll rip your mind up. I’ll burn your soul, I’ll turn you in to me.” —Henry Rollins The local Florida news reporter was wandering the sparsely filled hallways of the Conservative Political Action Conference gleaning the right-wing attendees for sound bites and homespun southern “wisdom.” A large splotchy pink and white-faced woman...