In 1787, as Benjamin Franklin exited Independence Hall in Philadelphia he was asked what form of government the Founders had settled on. He replied: "A republic…if you can keep it." We've had a good run, but it appears as though it's ending. We still have a republican "form" of government on paper, but over the […]
Former President Donald Trump rightly received a lot of flak over his continual failure to stay on message as the spread of COVID-19 eventually led to lockdowns, skyrocketing unemployment, and hundreds of thousands of Americans dead. However, if the public pronouncements of our public health officials under the Joe Biden presidency are any indication of […]
Earlier today the Centers for Disease Control released new guidelines on where masks should be used. As has been the norm since the beginning of this pandemic, the United States government, first under Donald Trump and now under Joe Biden, has done a less than stellar job of communicating with the public. The mask flyer […]
We're approaching the end of our first year living with the COVID-19 virus here in the United States. The report card for most of our elected officials and institutions is dismal—public education is among the worst. I see a lot of this close-up. My wife is a high school English teacher; my sister, a high […]
Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced that he would be pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, much to the hysterical dismay of those whose religion is catastrophic anthropogenic global warming climate change. Responses on Twitter took two disparate tracks: one was that the world would be ending shortly; and that the Paris agreement was really a […]
Since Donald Trump was unexpectedly elected President of the United States, foes on the left, and to a lesser extent the political right, have contemplated the impeachment and removal from office of the tiny-handed, comb-overed vulgarian. Unfortunately, many aren't too clear on exactly how impeachment works. Saturday evening, a link to a post from the […]
The debate over the which Syrian refugees (if any) and how many of them to bring to the United States has brought out a cadre of amateur theologians—many of whom darken the doorway of a house of worship only for weddings and funerals—quick to tell us exactly WWJD when it comes to public policy. The […]
Let's face it: The War on Drugs has Failed. For decades the government has spent untold billions or trillions of dollars on law enforcement and mass incarceration of people who are only destroying their own lives. Don't get me wrong. I don't think people should be using PCP, cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy or any other currently […]
Conflicts of interest are not uncommon occurrences. In most professional settings, when these sorts of things occur they're taken care of without much of a kerfuffle. If a football referee has a son playing on a football team, he doesn't referee that particular game. Sometimes, in the interest of making things as aboveboard as possible, […]
After months of requests, former Secretary of State, and current Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton finally turned over her infamous personal email server to the FBI. But the real news today is that Clinton's email security was a joke. We're safe in assuming that the Russians, Chinese and any other half-way interested party (but not Congress […]